Reston, VA - NPES has been re-accredited as a standards development organization by the American National Standards Institute, after an audit of the association's standards administration operations by ANSI.

NPES administers the work of the Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) and B65 committees, as well as serving as secretariat for the US Technical Advisory Group to the International Organization for Standardization's Technical Committee 130 on Graphic Technology (USTAG to TC130).

CGATS received ANSI accreditation in 1989.  The goal of CGATS is for the entire scope of technical work for printing, publishing and converting technologies to be represented in one national standardization and coordination effort, while respecting the established activities of existing accredited standards committees and industry standards developers.  CGATS has standards either approved or in draft, relating to pallet loading of printed materials, metrology, terminology, plates, process control, digital data exchange, color data definition, design workflow for packaging, and ink and color characterization for packaging. Membership in CGATS is open to anyone having an interest in the work and involvement from the user community is sought to ensure standards meet their needs.

The B65 Committee, which received ANSI accreditation in 1983, develops safety standards relating to printing presses and press systems, binding/finishing equipment and systems, bindery cutting machines, platen presses and ink making equipment. These standards address design, arrangements, designation, and color scheme of controls and signaling devices, guarding and interlocking of guards, mechanical safety devise, symbology, and safe practices as they apply to printing equipment.

The USTAG to TC130 consists of industry experts who provide guidance to ANSI on the development of the U.S. position on International Standards relating to graphic arts. The USTAG maintains a list of experts in all areas of the graphic arts, including, but not limited to, technologies such as ink, process control, plates, blankets, digital data exchange, environmental impact of printed products, management of security printing, printing certification requirements, safety and color management.

Participation on any of these committees is open to anyone having an interest. For more information, or to participate in this work, contact Assistant Director of Standards, Debbie Orf, at phone: 703/264-7200 or e-mail: [email protected].