"The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Secretary of Commerce has approved the withdrawal of thirty-three Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publications.

These FIPS are being withdrawn because they are obsolete, or have not been updated to adopt current voluntary industry standards. Most of these FIPS adopt voluntary industry standards for Federal government use. In some cases, the FIPS documents have not been updated to adopt current or revised voluntary industry standards. This situation preserves obsolete, but mandatory, standards for agency use. In other cases, commercial products implementing the voluntary industry standards are widely available; as a result it is no longer necessary for the Government to mandate standards that duplicate industry standards.

The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Division E of Public Law 104-106) and Executive Order 13011 signed by the President emphasize agency management of information technology and Government-wide interagency support activities to improve productivity, security, interoperability, and coordination of Government resources. Federal agencies and departments are directed by the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Public Law 104-113, to use technical standards that are developed in voluntary consensus standards bodies."