1. Supporting Consumers and Other Users of Standards
GSC-11 User Workshop
Presented by:
S. Joe Bhatia
ANSI President and Chief Executive Officer
June 1, 2006

2. ANSI is not a government agency or a standards developer
Mission
To enhance the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the American quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and ensuring their integrity
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private, not-for-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.
The Institute's mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.
ANSI was founded by private and public sector organizations as . . .
an “umbrella” organization for the U.S. voluntary consensus standards community
a private-sector led and public-sector supported standards coordination body
a not-for-profit organization
ANSI is not a government agency or a standards developer

3. A Federation of Members representing . . .
Academia
Individuals
Government
Manufacturers
Trade Associations
Professional Societies
Service Organizations
Standards Developers
Consumer and Labor Interests
and many more
Comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations, the ANSI Federation represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 entities and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.
Currently, membership includes almost all industry sectors
nearly 500 Member Companies (with revenues of more than $1.2+ trillion)
270+ Professional, Trade, Educational, Consumer and Labor Institutions
30+ Government Agencies (Federal, State and Local)
Bringing the Private and Public Sectors Together Since 1918

4. ANSI’s Organizational Structure
ANSI has three Forums based on membership type
Organizational Member Forum (OMF)
Government Member Forum (GMF)
Company Member Forum (CMF)
ANSI’s fourth Forum is based on a topical area of focus
Consumer Interest Forum (CIF)
The ANSI Federation comprises four broadly defined constituencies: company members, organizational members, government members, and consumer interests. The Company Member Forum, Government Member Forum, and Organizational Member Forum have as their charge to:
Provide a forum for discussion and networking by a defined interest category;
Provide a mechanism for “early warning” of relevant trends;
Address issues of interest primarily to their membership and galvanize implementation of their constituent level;
Identify broader-based issues to be addressed by an identified governance body;
Assume an active role in ANSI membership recruitment and retention;
Serve as the one place within ANSI where participants can represent their own organization’s interests.
NOTE: The Consumer Interest Forum (CIF) works to facilitate the representation of consumer interests in voluntary standards and conformity assessment activities. Membership in ANSI is not a requirement for consumer representative organizations.

5. Consumers and Standardization
ANSI defines consumers as . . .
those individuals who use goods or services to satisfy their individual needs and desires, rather than to resell them or to produce other goods or services with them

6. ANSI’s Consumer Interest Forum (CIF)
Educates consumers on the value of standards and conformity assessment in everyday life
Facilitates the representation of consumer interests in voluntary standards and conformity assessment activities
Enhances the effectiveness and credibility of ANSI as a representative of all materially affected interests
Participation in the ANSI CIF is open to consumer representatives who are willing to actively participate in its work and who express an interest in membership
Membership in ANSI is not required
CIF members shall be knowledgeable representatives from consumer organizations, producers, retailers, distributors, industry councils and government
The CIF will strive to maintain a reasonable balance among such groups.
No more than one Consumer Interest Forum member may be employed by the same company, organization, department or agency.

7. CIF: Areas of Activity Outreach and networking
Increase standards awareness among consumer representatives
Provide information on standards-related consumer issues
Facilitate information exchange among consumer professionals
Provide consumer feedback to the ANSI Federation
Some of the broad issues that the Consumer Interest Forum works to advance include:
Outreach and networking: build stronger relationships between ANSI and national and international organizations to:
Increase standards awareness among consumer representatives, including increased participation in CIF and ANSI by government, consumers, business, and trade associations;
Build dialogue on key issues by providing a primary forum and information source on consumer interest issues related to voluntary standards and conformity assessment;
Develop effective information exchanges among consumer professionals;
Provide consumer feedback to the ANSI Federation;
Represent consumers before COPOLCO and other international standards related activities

8. CIF: Areas of Activity (continued)
Facilitate enhanced consumer interest and participation in standardization activities
Represent the United States on the Committee on Consumer Policy of the International Organization for Standardization (COPOLCO)
Standards for consumer services and users with special needs are priority areas
Facilitate enhanced consumer interest participation throughout the ANSI process and organization
Encourage consumer participation in the development of standards for consumer products and services to identify and meet consumer concerns and needs
The CIF is also the U.S. link to ISO COPOLCO (Consumer Policy Committee of the International Organization for Standardization)
COPOLCO provides a forum for the exchange of information and experience on consumer participation in the international standardization work of ISO and, by liaison, in IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission)
Draft ISO/IEC Guide 76 (prepared by COPOLCO) provides general guidance on issues to be considered when drafting standards for consumers services
Applies to all services including telecom
Addresses the needs of older persons, persons with disabilities
In conjunction with training on Guide 76, COPOLCO has made aware of the Guide for ITU-T Groups – ‘Considering End-User Needs in developing Recommendations’

9. CIF Membership Roster
American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
Association of Home Equipment Educators
Consumer Federation of America
Council of Better Business Bureaus
Direct Selling Education Foundation
Intertek Testing Services NA Inc.
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators
National Consumers League
Telecommunications Industry Association
Toy Industry Association
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
U.S. Department of Agriculture
and a number of product safety and other consultants

10. ANSI’s Top Ten Priorities Outreach to Broader Constituencies
Engage and represent new stakeholder groups
Represent broader and more diverse industrial base
Service economy
Aging population
Others

11. The USSS, Consumers and the Users of Standards
Approved in December 2005, the United States Standards Strategy (USSS) is a revision of the National Standards Strategy for the United States
provides a vision, purpose and common framework that can be used by U.S. stakeholders to achieve their respective standardization goals
represents the vision of a broad cross-section of standards stakeholders and reflects the diversity of the U.S. standards system
The United States Standards Strategy is a revision of the National Standards Strategy for the United States (NSS) that was approved in August The first NSS reaffirmed that the U.S. is committed to a sector-based approach to voluntary standardization activities, both domestically and globally.
It established a standardization framework that was built upon the traditional strengths of the U.S. system — such as consensus, openness and transparency — while giving additional emphasis to speed, relevance, and meeting the needs of public interest constituencies.
Strategic and tactical initiatives contained within this framework were developed so that they could then be used by diverse interests to meet their own national and individual organizational objectives.

12. The USSS, Consumers and the Users of Standards (continued)
Strategy 3 - Improve the responsiveness of the standards system to the views and needs of consumers
Standards developers should identify, encourage and support appropriate consumer representation on their committees, make virtual attendance at meetings possible through electronic means such as teleconferencing or collaborative meeting tools, and encourage consumer comment during public reviews
3 – Improve the responsiveness of the standards system to the views and needs of consumers
The representation of consumer interests in the U.S. standards system is essential to ensure that the individual’s needs are being considered and addressed. Today’s consumers are concerned about such issues as product compatibility; quality of products and services; ease of use and accessibility; the environment, health, and safety; deceptive trade practices; redress; and social responsibility. The emergence of the online market means more information and more choices are available to consumers. With its emphasis on balance, openness, and transparency, the U.S. standards system provides a valuable forum for the consumer voice to be heard. However, more is needed to make consumers aware of these opportunities and to encourage and facilitate their participation.

13. The USSS, Consumers and the Users of Standards (continued)
Strategy 3 (tactics – continued)
Industry should use consumer research as a basis for standardization initiatives and decisions
Government should strengthen its consumer-related programs and initiate standards information and participation programs as appropriate
ANSI should work with consumer organizations to educate them about standardization and encourage and support their participation in standards development

14. Questions?