StandardsWhat's a Commercial Standard?Commercial standards, developed by industry with the technical and secretarial assistance of the Commodity Standards Division of the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST), were voluntary standards used to establish grades and qualities of specific commodities. In the words of Commercial Standard 215-58, later superceded by Women's Voluntary Product Standard PS42-70, they were "commodity specifications voluntarily established by mutual consent of…producer, distributor, and consumer and should not be confused with any plan of government regulation or control." Those in agreement with the specifications were meant to follow the standards as closely as possible and to use the standards as something resembling trade customs, rather than as rules or laws. When a Commercial Standards program was established in October of 1927 under I. J. Fairchild, it supplemented the Bureau's Simplified Practice program, another cooperative effort with industry, which was meant to eliminate waste by standardizing size and type. Each commercial standard was subject to constant revision and possible removal as conditions changed over time. What's a Voluntary Standard?Published by the Department of Commerce and administered by NIST, the purpose of these standards is to establish nationally recognized requirements for products and to provide all concerned interests with a basis for common understanding of the characteristics of a product. U.S. Apparel Sizing StandardsApparel Regulations (withdrawn) Return to Content<<
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