Standards Basics
Overview of the U.S. Standards System (PDF)
This publication by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) provides a useful overview of the U.S. standards system. ANSI, a non-profit private sector organization, coordinates the U.S. standards system.
Standards Boost Business is an outreach initiative to help U.S. businesses understand the power of standardization in driving business growth, spurring innovation and advancing U.S. competitiveness. Coordinated by the American National Standards Institute in partnership with companies and organizations from across the U.S. standardization community, this free online resource is designed to help corporate leaders understand the strategic and economic value of standards to business and to overall economic competitiveness.
Useful Reference Documents
Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities (also know as Circular A-119) and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) of 1995 instruct U.S. federal agencies to consider using private-sector voluntary consensus standards instead of government-unique standards whenever possible.
The U.S. Administrative Procedures Act is the U.S. federal statute that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations.
The APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform is a voluntary tool that Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies may use to evaluate their respective regulatory reform efforts.
The 2018 Fact Sheet provided by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on reducing technical barriers to trade.