It also prevents industries from developing standards that would give them an unfair edge over their competition. ANSI has accredited ASQ as a standards-developing organization, and all the standards ASQ develops are American National Standards. A TAG is a group of experts in a particular field whose primary purpose is to develop and transmit to ISO or IEC, via their member body, their nation's position on activities and ballots of the ISO or IEC technical committee for which the TAG has been established. TAGs are actively involved in the creation of international standards. A TAG is composed of experts in the field of its allied ISO or IEC technical committee.
Members attend standards meetings, both domestic and international.
At these meetings, documents that the members hope will result in international standards are conceived, written, revised, distributed for review, revised again, and eventually submitted for publication. Participation in TAGs is vital if the link between national industries and the international standards community is to be maintained. Participation in TAGs is an opportunity for a country's industry to help shape the international standards that will influence the way it does business globally. Participants have devoted many years to becoming experts in their fields and they have a tremendous responsibility to protect their countries' trade and commercial interests. ASQ is the administrator for the U.S. TAG to ISO Technical Committee 176 on Quality Management and Quality Assurance.