The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) does not directly develop standards. Instead it coordinates their development and use within the United States. The ANSI website lists over 270 ANSI accredited standards developers.

Accreditation is very decentralised, with 15 bodies being recognised by ILAC for laboratory accreditation (ranging from 'Stakeholders' to 'Full members'), and a further 1 body by IAF for certification body accreditation.

Conversely, both legal and scientific metrology^* fall under the same body, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the US Commerce Department's Technology Administration, founded in 1901.

* Except for viscosity. In 2004, NIST designated Cannon Instrument Company, a private company, as the provider of US national measurement standards for liquid viscosity.