American National Standards
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) facilitates the development of American National Standards (ANS) by accrediting the procedures of standards developing organizations. ANSI Accreditation signifies that the procedures used by the standards setting organizations meet the Institute’s requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process.
The ANSI process serves all standardization efforts in the United States by providing a process that withstands scrutiny, while protecting the rights and interests of every participant. ANSI standards quicken the market acceptance of products while making clear how to improve the safety of those products for the protection of consumers.
To maintain ANSI accreditation, standards develoers must adhere to a set of procedures known as the “ANSI Essential Requirements,” which embrace globally-accepted principles implemented by international standards bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Approximately 200 standards developing organizations are accredited by the Institute.
List of ANSI Accredited Standards Developers
A separate process, based on the same principles, determines whether standards meet the necessary criteria to be approved as American National Standards. There are approximately 10,000 American National Standards that carry the ANSI designation.
The ANS process involves:
- consensus by a group that is open to representatives from all interested parties;
- broad-based public review and comment on draft standards;
- consideration of and response to comments submitted by the public;
- incorporation of submitted changes that meet the same consensus requirements into a draft standard; and
- availability of an appeal by any participant alleging that these principles were not respected during the standards-development process.
