American National
Standards (ANS) 
Introduction

• As the mark of an equitable, open process, the ANS designation is recognized and valued by national and international stakeholders, fostering acceptance and use of a voluntary consensus standard and the overall strength of the U.S. system.
• The ANS designation demonstrates that a standard’s development process satisfies the U.S. government’s definition of a voluntary consensus standard and compliance with U.S. policy regarding federal reliance on voluntary consensus standards: OMB Circular A-119 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act.
• The ANS designation indicates compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Code of Good Practice (CGP) criteria for openness, transparency, impartiality, consensus, relevance, and effectiveness in standards development, resulting in the use of many American National Standards globally when they meet an international marketplace need.
• American National Standards serve as the basis for many ISO, IEC, or other international standards.
• And many ISO, IEC, and ISO/IEC JTC 1 standards are nationally adopted by ANSI-Accredited Standards Developers as American National Standards.

• Here's a common format, where the inclusion of ANSI means the standard is an ANS; "XYZ" represents the acronym of the ASD; 123 is the number of the standard, and 2020 is the year of publication:

  ANSI/XYZ 123-2020

• If "ANSI" appears in the designation, then you know it's an ANS. However, not all ANS include “ANSI” in the designation.
• ASDs choose their own naming conventions. For example, each of these could be an ANS:
  • ANSI/XYZ 123-2020
  • XYZ 123-2020
  • XYZ 123
• “BSR” in the designation of a standard on ANSI’s website indicates that it has been proposed but is not yet approved as an ANS.

So how can you tell for sure?

• All ANS must be labeled on the cover or front matter, via text identifying "an American National Standard," or with the ANS mark:

• Current lists of proposed and approved American National Standards
• ANSI Standards Action for open public comment opportunities

1. Accreditation of Standards Developers: ANSI accredits the voluntary consensus standards development procedures of organizations that agree to comply with the ANSI Essential Requirements and ANSI's neutral oversight, designating them ANSI-Accredited Standards Developers (ASDs) or ANSI Audited Designators.
2. Approval of American National Standards: ANSI approves individual voluntary consensus standards submitted by ASDs, designating them American National Standards (ANS).

All ANSI-Accredited Standards Developers and all American National Standards are subject to ANSI’s neutral third-party oversight via ANSI’s audit program, appeals provisions, periodic review of procedures, and other checks and balances that demonstrate compliance with ANSI’s procedural requirements.

• ANSI Executive Standards Council (ExSC)
• ANSI Board of Standards Review (BSR)
• ANSI Appeals Board

These groups are made up of neutral, knowledgeable professionals from ANSI's membership community, who are subject to ANSI's conflict of interest policy. They oversee the integrity of the ANS consensus process by assessing evidence of procedural compliance with ANSI's Essential Requirements.

The ExSC, BSR, and Appeals Board report to the ANSI National Policy Committee (NPC), a governance committee responsible for broad-based policy decisions regarding national standards development process issues, government relations, and public policy issues and reporting to the Executive Committee of the ANSI Board of Directors.