Consumer involvement proved crucial in many instances of standards development nationally and internationally.
Consumer inputs, interests or concerns when considered in standards development ensures that the standard is market driven/relevant – among others.
Consumers provide inputs on how a product is actually used or help identify potential abuse or misuse in the market before the issue leads to a full-fledged recall.
Consumers feedback and inputs can be used to determine:
- Need for new standards
- If compliance with existing standards need to be made mandatory
- If a current standard need to revised
In other words they give an end users perspective of the standards being developed or used.