American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was founded in 1918 by five engineering societies and three government agencies. It remains a privately funded federation representing both the private and public sectors.

ANSI' s membership consists of approximately 1,300 companies; 35 government agencies; and more than 260 technical, trade, labor and consumer groups. ANSI was a founding member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and plays an active role in its governance. It is one of five permanent members to the governing ISO Council, and one of four permanent members of ISO' s Technical Management Board. U.S. participation, through the U.S. National Committee, is equally strong in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

ANSI is the sole U.S. member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) . Through ANSI, the U.S. has immediate access to the ISO and IEC standards development processes. ANSI participates in almost the entire technical program of both the ISO (78% of all ISO technical committees) and the IEC (91% of all IEC technical committees) , and administers many key committees and subgroups. As part of its responsibilities as the U.S. member body of the ISO and the IEC, ANSI accredits U.S. Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), whose primary purpose is to develop and transmit, through ANSI, U.S. positions on activities and ballots of the international technical committees.

In many instances, U.S. standards are taken forward (to the ISO or IEC) through ANSI or the USNC, where they are adopted in whole or in part as international standards. Since the work of international technical committees is carried out by volunteers from industry and government, not by ANSI staff, the success of these efforts depends upon the willingness of U.S. industry and the U.S. government to commit the resources required to ensure strong U.S. technical participation in the international standards process.

One of the best indicators of the strength of the U.S. system is the government' s extensive reliance on, and use of, private sector voluntary standards. Pursuant to OMB Circular A119, federal government agencies are required to use voluntary standards for regulatory and procurement purposes when appropriate. State and local governments and agencies have formally adopted thousands of voluntary standards produced by ANSI, and the process appears to be accelerating.

ANSI' s mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems.
ANSI has four basic functions:
(1) to facilitate U.S. standardization policy developments;
(2) to accredit national standards developers, which provides consistency in the national standards system and helps to ensure the
consensus process;
(3) to promote U.S. standardization interests globally, and
(4) to provide information and training regarding standardization.

ANSI does not write standards, but serves as an impartial organization which, through its procedures, validates the general acceptability of the work of the technical experts. It ensures that the standards writing group used democratic procedures that gave everyone who will be "directly and materially" affected by the use of the standard an opportunity to participate in the development work or to comment on the document’s provisions. It assures users that those interested in the work reached consensus on the standard’s provisions and that the document is technically sound and does not conflict with or unnecessarily duplicate other national standards.

ANSI voluntary standards include more than 100,000 product standards developed by more than 400 standards development organizations, including government, industry, technical societies, trade associations and companies.

There are hundreds of thousands of standards users, including companies of all sizes; federal, state and local government agencies; universities, colleges and trade schools; businesses; consultants and individuals.

The Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) and the B65 Committee for Safety Standards are the two ANSI-accredited committees developing national standards for the printing, publishing and converting industry. The U.S. TAG to ISO TC 130 is the U.S. Technical Advisory Group that provides input into the ISO standards activities relating to the industry. NPES serves as the Secretariat for these committees. Information on these committees is contained in this booklet, and further information can be obtained by contacting Mary Abbott.