Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
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The Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance

  

Harmonised standards and conformance procedures improve the efficiency of production and facilitate the conduct of international trade, resulting in more rapid trade flows, reduced costs and greater integration of production networks.

The Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) was established in 1994 to help reduce the negative effects that differing standards and conformance arrangements have on trade and investment flows in the Asia-Pacific region. In this way, the SCSC assists the Committee on Trade and Investment to achieve APEC's trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation agenda.

The SCSC also promotes open regionalism and market-driven economic interdependence by encouraging greater alignment of APEC Member Economies' standards with international standards.


Achievements

Standards and Conformance
The 7th Conference on Standards and Conformance was held in Cusco in August 2008. Sessions were held on trade facilitation and standards assessment and education, and there was a dialogue with the business sector. APEC member economies were advised to develop technical infrastructure on standards and conformance related to measurement and testing. Member economies were also encouraged to participate more actively in the SCSC's Standards Education Initiative (SEI) to increase awareness and knowledge among the region's stakeholders. SCSC members are able to share standards education related information by uploading case studies, lessons, and references on the online SEI library.

Food Safety
The SCSC established the APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum in 2007, recognising that food safety and internationally harmonised food standards are key factors for improving public health and safety and facilitating trade in food for APEC economies. The purpose of the Forum is to improve and strengthen information sharing and capacity building activities in food safety and to identify, prioritise and coordinate capacity-building activities in APEC. The SCSC endorsed the Implementation Plan for Strengthening Food Safety Standards Practices in APEC Economies for 2008-2011 in February 2008.

SCSC members also agreed to establish a Wine Regulatory Forum (WRF) in February 2008. The role of the WRF is to examine options to simplify and harmonise wine regulation across the APEC region. To date, eight APEC member economies have provided details about their regulations.

The Philippines held a Workshop on Capacity Building on Food Safety Risk Communication for APEC Developing Economies in Manila in June 2008. The workshop included an assessment of current infrastructure and communication capacity.

A Seminar on Food Safety Control System and Risk Analysis was held in August 2008 in Cusco, Peru. Attendees learned about WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary principles and other international standards in the field of food safety, and exchanged information on each other's food safety control systems.

Regulatory Practices
The 5th Conference on Good Regulatory Practice was held in Cusco, Peru in August 2008. Delegates learned about standards policies that lead to reductions in regulatory barriers to trade and considered the priorities for capacity building in the area of good regulatory practice.

Product-related environmental standards
The SCSC's Trade Facilitation Task Force (TFTF) met on February 23, 2009 in Singapore to exchange views and information on the connection between trade and product-related environmental standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Current developments in the international arena on product-related environmental measures and the impact these measures will have on APEC economies was also discussed.

An e-learning course on the practical uses of environmental product standards in the ISO 14000 series was held between November 2006 and June 2007, with the objective of building members' capacity to understand and use environmental regulations.

Trade Facilitation
The SCSC has completed its report on the implementation of APEC's first Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP1). The report finds that the SCSC contributed to the TFAP1 by helping reduce business transaction costs in four main areas: standards alignment; recognition of conformity assessment in regulated and voluntary sectors; development of technical infrastructure; and transparency of standards and conformity assessment in APEC economies.

The SCSC's second Collective Action Plan in Trade Facilitation was endorsed and updated at the SCSC's meeting in August 2009.

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Current Activities

At the SCSC's second meeting in 2009 (SCSCII, 5-6 August, Singapore) a brainstorming session was held on the work of the TFTF. All economies were asked to make recommendations on new areas for TFTF work and a draft paper will be presented for approval at the SCSC's first meeting in February 2010. The session also highlighted that the TFTF's Terms of Reference (TOR) are due for their biennial review. The revised TOR will reflect emerging issues, member economies' priorities and new focal points for future work.

Prior to the meeting a number of SCSC-related activities and projects were held including:

Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) (30 July 2009):
  • The FCSF brought together food safety regulators from APEC member economies and key international stakeholders to share information and enhance regional capacity on food safety.
  • New operating principles, food safety capacity building priorities and the revised FSCF Implementation Plan 2007-2009 were agreed upon.
  • The FSCF reaffirmed its commitment to work together to build robust food safety systems so as to accelerate progress towards harmonisation of food standards with international standards, to improve public health and facilitate trade. Member economies agreed to continue their efforts to strengthen food safety capacity building activities and improve food safety information sharing across the APEC region.
  • The FSCF is scheduled to meet again in 2011.

Conference on Business Engagement in Standards and Conformance (3-4 August 2009):
  • The conference focused on facilitating trade through business engagement in standards and conformance. It was attended by a broad range of government standards authority representatives and private sector representatives.
  • Participants made 68 recommendations for further engaging business in SCSC activities.
  • SCSC members will prioritise these recommendations before their next meeting.

Managing Risk Across the Supply Chain Workshop (30-31 July 2009):
  • Consumer product and risk management experts from government and non-government organisations attended the workshop. The aim was to share best practices on consumer product safety risk management approaches.
  • Participants discussed the need for APEC to develop a set of guidance documents and training to promote consensus and common approaches to risk management in the region.

APEC Toy Safety Initiative Regulator Dialogue on Toy Safety (1-2 August 2009):
  • Participants emphasised the importance of strengthening capacity on risk assessment of toy safety hazards, and encouraged further collaboration in this area.
  • Important activities underway in other international organisations on product safety were reviewed, and participants expressed the view that the APEC Toy Safety Initiative should complement, and not duplicate, that work. They agreed to promote greater engagement of APEC economies in these international cooperative activities.
  • The important role customs authorities play in ensuring product safety was noted and the SCSC was requested to share this report with APEC's Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures.

Workshop on Hot Issues in Risk Analysis: Food Safety (1-2 August 2009):
  • More than 100 delegates from private and government organisations attended the workshop. The value of having all those responsible for regional food safety present in one venue - food safety regulators, officials from international standard setting bodies, representatives from, academic institutes and private sector food producers - was noted.
  • The concept of risk communication was identified as a critical factor in addressing food safety challenges and it was considered that more stakeholders, including consumers, should have a clearer understanding of the roles everyone can and must play in order to improve food safety.
  • A detailed report on the workshop, including outcomes and actionable recommendations, will now be prepared.


Pathfinder Initiatives
The Joint Advisory Committee for MRA on Conformity Assessment for Electrical and Electronic Equipment has been renamed the Joint Regulatory Advisory Committee (JRAC) on Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), and revised terms of reference have been agreed. The first JRAC meeting will be held on May 2010 in Tokyo, Japan.

Standard and conformance education
A curriculum project for secondary schools and universities to raise public awareness of the importance of standards and conformance in everyday life as well as its contribution to trade and safety is being developed by Japan and Korea. The Phase I Report (2008) provides case studies of how to plan and implement standards education programs and provides a strategic curriculum model. The creation of an Asia-Pacific Network for Standardisation to provide a forum for communication between researchers, professionals and educators was endorsed by the SCSC in August 2008.

The SCSC PAGE (Project Advisory Group on Education) workshop was held on 22 February 2009 and at SCSCII a progress update on the Phase II Textbooks and Teaching Manual Development part of the project was provided.

Specialist Regional Bodies
Cooperation with other regional organisations that work in the areas of standards and conformance will be strengthened by implementing the Specialist Regional Bodies Strategic Plan.

Future events
Tentative future SCSC events include:
  • A Second APEC Toy Safety Workshop and an open dialogue for all toy stakeholders will be held during the Hong Kong Toy Fair in January, 2010 in Hong Kong, China.
  • A Workshop on the Study of Export Technical Assistance Models is planned to coincide with the SCSC's next meeting in February 2010.


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Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) - Key Contacts
Chair
Mr. Tatsuo Yamamoto
Director-General for Technical Regulations,
Standards & Conformity Assessment Policy Unit
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8901
Tel: +81-3-3501-1563
Fax: +81-3-3580-8637
E-mail: yamamoto-tatsuo@meti.go.jp

APEC Secretariat
Mr Toni Widhiastono
Director (Program)
E-mail: tw@apec.org

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Reviewed on: 11 September 2009