ANSI Supports Revision of White House OMB Circular A119.
Press Release Summary:
White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued revision of OMB Circular A119, "Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities." In February 2014, OMB requested comments on said revision and received broadly supportive response from ANSI. Updates maintain strong preference for using voluntary consensus standards over government-unique standards in Federal regulation and procurement and clarifies guidance.
Original Press Release:
Office of Management and Budget Releases Revised Circular A-119
Revision Reinforces Importance of Government Use of Standards and Strengthens Guidance on Federal Participation in Standardization Activities
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued a revised version of OMB Circular A119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities.” Circular A119 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) of 1995 instruct U.S. federal agencies to consider using private-sector voluntary consensus standards instead of government-unique standards whenever possible. According to OMB, the revision was initiated “in light of changes that have taken place in the world of regulation, standards, and conformity assessment since the Circular was last revised in 1998.”
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has been closely monitoring the OMB’s revision process since it was first announced in 2012, communicating developments to ANSI members and constituents and gathering stakeholder input for coordinated responses. In February 2014 the OMB published a Request for Comment on a proposed revision to the Circular, and received comments from more than 80 stakeholders. Among the comments was a response from ANSI compiled on behalf of the standardization community, which was broadly supportive of the planned updates.
Those updates are well-reflected in the revision, which maintains a strong preference for using voluntary consensus standards over government-unique standards in Federal regulation and procurement and clarifies some guidance. ANSI is currently planning a February webinar to help the U.S. standardization community identify and understand the changes; details will be widely shared soon.
The revised Circular A119 is posted on the White House website, and the related Federal Register is available here.
