Twenty-Seventh Annual Report on Federal Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment

Published

October 23, 2024

Author(s)

Karen Reczek

Abstract

In FY 2023, of the 23 federal agencies that reported, only one federal agency, which submitted a report for the first time, added 1 GUS in lieu of VCS. No other agency added or rescinded any GUS in lieu of VCS, leaving a total of 80 previously reported GUS in lieu of VCS still in use. This analysis does not reflect the use of standards by the Department of Defense (DoD) or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as they report their use of GUS on a categorical basis via a different reporting mechanism. Agencies demonstrate the effectiveness of the NTTAA and Circular A-119 by their continuous review of opportunities to rescind GUS in favor of using VCS, and their involvement with the private sector through the VCS process. These activities suggest that federal agencies are cognizant of the benefits of meeting their mission needs by actively seeking to use VCS developed by the private sector.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8543

Report Number

8543

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8543

Local Download

Keywords

Agency use of standards, government unique standards, NTTAA, voluntary consensus standards

Citation

Reczek, K. (2024), Twenty-Seventh Annual Report on Federal Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8543, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958930 (Accessed September 1, 2026)

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