Voluntary consensus standards bodies

Definition
Voluntary consensus standards bodies are:

"domestic or international organizations which plan, develop, establish, or coordinate voluntary consensus standards using agreed-upon procedures. A voluntary consensus standards body is defined by the following attributes:

(i) Openness. (ii) Balance of interest. (iii) Due process. (vi) An appeals process. (v) Consensus, which is defined as general agreement, but not necessarily unanimity, and includes a process for attempting to resolve objections by interested parties, as long as all comments have been fairly considered, each objector is advised of the disposition of his or her objection(s) and the reasons why, and the consensus body members are given an opportunity to change their votes after reviewing the comments."