The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is pleased to announce the redesign of its Standards Portal, an online resource and educational tool for global trade which provides answers to critical standards, conformance, market access, and trade-related questions that companies require for U.S. and international operations. The updated site, at www.standardsportal.org, features a new interface with links to need-to-know information on international trade.
Standards Portal originally launched in 2006 as part of a collaborative effort between ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with the Standardization Administration of China (SAC). Designed for industry stakeholders and policy officials, the portal initially focused on U.S.-China trade, and has since expanded to include resources for export markets in India and Korea. ANSI's vice president of international policy, Joseph Tretler, recently signed an implementation plan for a U.S.-Brazil Standards Portal.
The revitalized portal features easy-to-navigate pages with informative global resources and connects users to sub-sites of topical material including International Trade Resources, International Policy Papers, and a comprehensive U.S. Market Directory. A new feature link on the portal directs visitors to fundamental information on Standards Alliance, a public-private partnership between ANSI and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) aimed at assisting developing countries with World Trade Organization (WTO) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) compliance.
"The expansion and upgrade of the Standards Portal demonstrates ANSI's commitment to global and bilateral cooperation and trade facilitation," said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "The portal will continue to respond to the needs of U.S. and international businesses by providing the resources they need to understand the standards and conformance activities driving market access."
Site visitors can also find links to access a database of national, regional, and international standards and guidelines that are considered integral to successful international trade. Dual-language (Mandarin and English) educational materials on the structure, history, and operation of the U.S. and Chinese standards systems are also available, in addition to helpful standards information for India and Korea in the portal's export markets section.
ABOUT ANSI
ANSI is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.