Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Understanding the U.S. National Standards System

Published

Author(s)

K J. Johnsen

Abstract

This article, intended for publication in German in Germany, clarifies attributes of the U.S.standards system and its similarities and differences with European and international counterparts. In the United States, standardization is essentially a free-market system that gains its strength from the diversity of its participants and the fact that it is fundamentally a bottom up rather than a top down approach.
Citation
DIN-Mitteillung
Volume
81
Issue
No. 6

Keywords

American National Standards (ANS), ANSI, industry needs, National Institute for Standrds and Tech, NIST, standards developers, U.S. standards system

Citation

Johnsen, K. (2002), Understanding the U.S. National Standards System, DIN-Mitteillung (Accessed December 9, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created June 1, 2002, Updated February 17, 2017