ANSI now accepting profiles of conformity assessment bodies.

Press Release Summary:



ANSI has announced that it will add profile pages of U.S.-based conformity assessment bodies to StandardsPortal, an online resource designed to facilitate open and efficient trade between international markets in area of standards, conformity assessments, and technical regulations. With added information, resource will promote activities and contributions of organizations in U.S. and China, and make decentralized U.S. system easier to understand and more accessible to Chinese stakeholders.



Original Press Release:



ANSI Now Accepting Profiles of Conformity Assessment Bodies for StandardsPortal



The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has announced that it will add profile pages of U.S.-based conformity assessment bodies (CABs) to StandardsPortal, an online resource designed to facilitate more open and efficient trade between international markets in the area of standards, conformity assessment, and technical regulations.

StandardsPortal was launched in September of 2006. Supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Portal was developed by ANSI and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC); the site also offers resources on standards and conformance for the Republic of India.

Last February, the Portal was expanded to include directory profiles of U.S.-based standards developing organizations (SDOs) and trade associations seeking interaction with their Chinese counterparts. [see related news item]

Profiles of CABs are now being included to enhance the Portal's resources for conformity assessment issues. A CAB is an organization that performs testing, inspection, product certification, personnel certification, management system certification, environmental management system certification, or another type of conformity assessment service.

With information on SDOs, trade associations, and CABs, this directory resource will:

highlight and promote the important activities and contributions of these organizations in the U.S. and in China;

make the decentralized U.S. system easier to understand and more accessible to Chinese stakeholders; and

encourage increased Chinese participation in the organizations important to U.S. stakeholders.

Organizations wishing to include a profile in the repository are encouraged to contact Ms. Amy Michel, ANSI program administrator (amichel@ansi.org; 202.331.3625) as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, March 6, 2009.

Interested parties will be provided with an information reply form for data gathering and editing purposes, also available online at www.standardsportal.org/usa_en/resources/profiles.aspx. All profiles received will be published to the Portal by the end of March 2009.

The Institute welcomes general feedback and suggestions about the Portal's information resources. Anyone wishing to participate on a group to review and provide comments on these resource contents before they are finalized and translated into Chinese is invited to contact Ms. Amy Michel (amichel@ansi.org; 202.331.3625).

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