A Zimbabwe National Standard is a document established by consensus and approved by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe(SAZ) that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for products and services and related processes or production methods, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements as they apply to a product, process or production method. Standards, therefore, help to make sure that products and services are fit for their purpose and are comparable and compatible.

As the national standards body of Zimbabwe, the SAZ core activity is to facilitate and co-ordinate the development of national standards and to publish national standards. Standards are prepared by technical committees (TC) which consist of representatives from manufacturers, trade associations, government departments, educational, research, professional and testing institutions. For the private consumer, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe provides representatives on many TCs. In order to ensure that the standards produced are not technical barriers to trade, interested parties including SMEs are encouraged to participate in the voluntary national standards development work. This is the only way SMEs can ensure that their viewpoints and experiences are taken into account during the preparation of standards.

The SAZ has to date published 2500 Zimbabwean standards. As a signatory to the WTO code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards, the SAZ abides by its principles of openness, balance of interests and participants, due process and consensus and adopts international/regional standards in order to facilitate international trade.