Organization Structure of the US National Committee of the IEC

ANSI Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is comprised of approximately 40 representatives of the ANSI membership and is responsible for governance oversight of the issues, properties and affairs of the Institute.

ANSI International Policy Committee

The IPC is responsible for broad-based policy and position decisions on international and regional standards, public policy and related issues that are not exclusively related to either ISO or IEC.

USNC Membership

The broad-based USNC/IEC constituency currently includes nearly 1,400 representatives of academia, consumers, government agencies, manufacturers, professional societies, retailers, testing organizations and trade associations.

USNC/IEC Council

The USNC IEC Council coordinates the U.S. involvement in the IEC and other electrotechnical bodies associated with the IEC. The main focus of the Council is to manage policy and strategic issues and to improve the overall effectiveness of the USNC’s interface with the IEC. It also coordinates USNC activities with appropriate standards boards to promote consistency between those international and national activities that fall within the scope of the IEC.

The Council interfaces, via the USNC President, with the IEC Council and Council Board (CB). The current representation of Council consists of 26 individuals representing industry, trade associations, standards developing organizations, professional engineering societies, and government agencies. The USNC President is the chair of this committee and it meets three times each year.

Responsibilities of the Council:

• Represent and coordinate U.S. involvement in the IEC and other electrotechnical bodies associated with the IEC on behalf of the Institute;
• Recommend to the Finance Committee and Board of Directors an annual budget to cover IEC activities;
• Manage programs and adjudicate disputes arising from authorized USNC activities;
• Coordinate USNC activities with appropriate standards boards to promote consistency between those international and national activities that fall within the scope of the IEC;
• Report annually to the Board of Directors on United States participation in IEC activities and coordinating with the International Committee on issues affecting United States interests on more than one international forum;

The USNC Council has also established Standing Committees that mirror the terms of reference of the IEC Advisory Committees:

USNC Technical Management Committee

The main focus of the USNC Technical Management Committee (TMC) is to manage the technical work of the USNC and to represent the interests of the U.S at the Standardization Management Board (SMB) level in IEC. The Committee currently has 19 members, is chaired by the USNC Vice President – Technical and meets 3 times each year just prior to the meeting of IEC/SMB.

Responsibilities of the TMC:

• Develop U.S. positions in preparation for meetings of the IEC/SMB
• Appoint and oversee the designation of Technical Advisors, Deputy Technical Advisors, and TAG Administrators
• Approve the designation of U.S. Secretariats to IEC Committees
• Authorize invitations to host IEC Technical Committee (TC) and Subcommittee (SC) meetings in the U.S.
• Interface with regional/international bodies on technical issues

The TMC has established Coordinating Committees that mirror the terms of reference of the IEC Advisory Committees:

USNC-Approved U.S. Technical Advisory Groups

The USNC operates on the basis of Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), one for each IEC Technical Committee or Subcommittee on which the USNC is a “Participating” (“P”) Member.

A TAG consists of all U. S. national interested parties (companies, organizations, government agencies, etc.) directly and materially affected by the work of the TC/SC. The process for developing USNC positions shall provide an opportunity for fair and equitable participation without dominance by any single interest. The participation shall be open to all U.S. National Interested Parties who are directly and materially affected by the activity in question.

The TAG must have an Administrator that provides administrative support to the group, a Technical Advisor (TA) who usually serves as TAG Chairman, and members. The TA is the primary technical point of contact for the TAG.

TAGs are established under the following general criteria:

• There shall be NO undue financial barriers to participation.
• Participation shall not be conditional upon membership in any organization nor unreasonably restricted on the basis of technical qualifications or other such requirements.
• Guidelines for determining a U.S. voting position
• Criteria for approval of U.S. positions on International Standards activities

 A directory of USNC-approved U.S. Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) is now available.