On December 10, 2025, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in collaboration with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), convened a joint virtual event, “U.S.–Saudi Dialogue on PPE Standards.” The workshop represented the latest in an ongoing series of engagements designed to strengthen technical collaboration and enhance compatibility between the U.S. and Saudi standardization systems.
This dialogue brought together 39 participants, including standards experts, regulators, and industry stakeholders from both countries, to exchange insights on SASO’s new PPE regulation and explore opportunities for U.S.-based PPE standards in the Saudi market.
Technical Exchanges
SASO officials presented Saudi Arabia’s recently notified technical regulation on personal protective equipment and protective clothing. The presentation covered the regulation’s scope; essential health, safety, and environmental requirements; and the conformity assessment model based on ISO/IEC 17067, Conformity assessment - Fundamentals of product certification and guidelines for product certification schemes (certification scheme type 3).
U.S. participants, including representatives of ANSI, ASTM International, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), provided an overview of the U.S. standards system. They described the public–private partnership model, ANSI’s role in accrediting standards developers, ASTM’s consensus-based standards (including PPE-related documents already referenced by SASO), and NIOSH’s respirator approval and post-market oversight program.
Both sides emphasized their mutual interest in assuring high levels of worker safety and maintaining constructive channels for technical dialogue on PPE standards and regulatory strategies. Participants expressed interest in continued engagement on these topics, including potential future technical exchanges between Saudi and U.S. counterparts.
Ongoing Partnership
This dialogue builds on a long-standing relationship between ANSI and SASO, which has been supported by a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since 2007. Under this MOU, ANSI and SASO collaborate on information exchange related to standards and conformity assessment, as well as supporting Saudi experts’ participation in U.S. standards development activities. Over the years, this cooperation has included technical visits, joint programs, and other dialogues about the adoption or referencing of ANSI-accredited standards developing organizations’ standards in Saudi Arabia.
