The PDA became a Standards Developing/Development Organization (SDO) through the American National Standards Institute or ANSI for short. ANSI is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is “to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems and safeguarding their integrity.” ANSI does make it easier to come to an agreement by accrediting the procedures used by standards developers, and by making sure that these procedures allow for openness, balance, consensus, and due process. These principles mean: anyone who wants to contribute can, no one group can monopolize or skew procedures in its favor, and, should someone feel that he or she wasn’t given proper consideration, procedures are in place to review and evaluate the situation to ensure the process was conducted fairly and equally.
Becoming an accredited Standards Developer means that the process and steps performed by PDA meet the guidelines set forth by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in the ANSI Essential Requirements: Due Process Requirements for American National Standards (https://www.ansi.org/essentialrequirements). The key elements include openness, consensus vote, due process, lack of dominance, balance, public review/consideration of views and objections, an appeals process, and compliance with the ANS policies and administrative procedures.
The PDA Standards Development Process