ANSI Marks World Standards Week

During the same week that the United States government shut down, the American National Standards Institute is marking World Standards Week, highlighting the role standards play in the global economy.

ANSI’s Sept. 30-Oct. 4 commemoration aims to raise awareness about the importance of standardization to the world economy and promote the role of standards and conformance in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government and consumers worldwide. According to estimates from the U.S. Commerce Dept., global standards impact 80% of world commodity trade.

NSF Int’l., which has developed more than 80 voluntary American National Standards in multiple areas, including foodservice equipment and water products, is co-sponsoring the U.S. celebration of World Standards Day on Oct. 3 with a program highlighting how standards bring confidence to businesses, governments and consumers and continue to evolve to meet changing global needs.

World Standards Week is an annual event hosted by ANSI, which coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization system. The event began in 1970 as a celebration of the founding of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which held its first meeting in London in October 1946. ANSI is the U.S. representative to ISO and one of the founding organizations of World Standards Day.