[8] On October 24, 1950, during the fourth meeting of the Military Committee, was the first instance of there being a need for a standardization agency.

The NSA is an independent agency that receives general oversight and direction from a board of directors called the NATO Committee for Standardization (NCS) which are under the authority of the North Atlantic Council.

[4] Furthermore, the NSA is divided into an administrative unit and five branches: Air, Army, Joint, Naval and Policy and Coordination.

[6] The Director of the NATO Standardization Agency (DNSA) is the head authority figure of the NSA.

[4] The Secretary General of NATO appointed former MAS director rear admiral Jan H. Eriksen as the first DNSA on October 1, 2001.

[5][10] The current Director of the NATO Standardization Office is Brigadier General Zoltan Gulyas.