The Eritrean Standards Institution (ESI) was established in 1995 by Proclamation No. 75/1995. The Institution is an autonomous statutory Standardization body in Eritrea, having separate judicial personality. The Institution is the sole body for standardization, quality assurance and metrology. The Institution has its head office in Asmara and branch offices in the ports of Massawa and Assab.

The governing body of the Institution is the Standards Board, consisting of 11 members from different ministries and institutions; the Minister of Trade and Industry is the Chairman of the Board. The General Manager of the ESI is a member and secretary of the Standard Board.

The ESI has altogether developed over thousand national standards (ES) in different fields of economic activity, agriculture, food, building, chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering products, out of which 446 have been published and the others are in the pipeline for publication.

The Quality Assurance and certification operation of the ESI is governed by the "Standards Mark and Fee Regulations Legal Notice No. 34/1997", the general rules for the ESI certification system and specific rules of a certification scheme. Under these systems manufacturers or suppliers of products, processes or services that conform to relevant Eritrean Standards (ES) are granted permits to use the ESI standards mark, which is a mark of conformity to ES or a certificate of conformity. The mark or certificate is an assurance to the consumer that a product, process complies with the requirements of the relevant ES.

In accordance with the "Weights and Measures Regulations" issued under legal Notice No. 35 of 1997, the ESI has been undertaking legal metrology activities, particularly on commercial scales, weights, length measures, fuel trucks and trailers, underground and surface tankers, volumetric measures and fuel dispensers in the country.