We often find ourselves in a reactive posture. U.S. activities in standards and conformity assessment are diverse, decentralized, often competing with one another, and divided between the public and private sectors. The system has generally worked well to support the domestic goals of health, safety, protection of the environment, and the technical needs of the U.S. marketplace. However as the EU has strengthened its own regional technical infrastructure, the United States is increasingly challenged in playing an effective global leadership role. We can, we must, we want to do more.
Small things help.
We helped create an international standards information network on the World Wide Web. Developed by ANSI, the system is a catalog of more than 100,000 national and international standards. With ANSI, we are spearheading efforts to streamline laboratory accreditation procedures. Working with our partners, we are developing the framework for a national accreditation system. What this may mean is that U.S. goods that are tested by recognized laboratories would be accepted in all North American markets without further testing.