Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Table of Contents
- What is NCSCI?
- NCSCI Information Center
- NCSCI as an Inquiry Point
- What is Notify U.S.?
- What happened to Export Alert?
- Who operates Notify U.S.?
- How can I contact Notify U.S.?
What is NCSCI?
NCSCI is the National Center for Standards and Certification Information, an office within the Global Standards and Information Group, Standards Services Division, Technology Services of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is an agency of the Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
NCSCI provides research services on standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures for non-agricultural products. The Center is a central repository for standards-related information in the United States and has access to U.S., foreign, and international documents and contact points through its role as a U.S. national inquiry point.
The NCSCI Information Center
NCSCI answers your questions on standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment.
NCSCI maintains a reference collection on standards for your use in the Center and on the Internet.
In addition to being a comprehensive standards information center, NCSCI is the United States Inquiry Point for:
- the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT)
- the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the
- the International Organization for Standardization Information Network (ISONET).
NCSCI alerts you to changes in U.S., foreign, and international regulations and conformity assessment rules.
NCSCI as an Inquiry Point
At NCSCI, the U.S. Inquiry Point under the WTO TBT Agreement (for nonagricultural products), you can learn:
- What are the latest proposed U.S. and foreign technical regulations?
- What are the latest proposed U.S. and foreign conformity assessment systems?
- Who are the current U.S. and foreign regulatory points of contact?
- What standards or technical regulations must exported and imported products currently meet?
NCSCI uses these resources to help U.S. manufacturers and exporters identify specific product standards and regulations:
- Standards catalogs from many World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries
- Global WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) foreign inquiry points
- Regional and international standards groups
- Publications and technical regulations from other countries
What is Notify U.S.?
Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail subscription service that offers U.S. entities (citizens, industries, organizations) an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect their businesses and their access to international markets.
Notify U.S. opens a wealth of WTO TBT information to you and allows you to request complete texts of changing technical regulations. Notify U.S. added these features:
- guides you in the preparation of comments
- allows you to easily submit comments through NCSCI, the WTO TBT U.S. Inquiry Point
- offers information on translation services
- offers news and information about standards, conformity assessment, and the WTO TBT
Who operates Notify U.S.?
Notify U.S. is a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
How can I contact Notify U.S.?
Contact Notify U.S. at:
| Name | National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI) |
|---|---|
| Organization | National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) |
| Address | 100 Bureau Drive, MS-2160 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2160 |
| Telephone | 301-975-4040 |
| Fax | 301-926-1559 |
| notifyus@nist.gov |



