APEC Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Arrangement (EEMRA) - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
 

APEC Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Arrangement (EEMRA)

 

The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Arrangement (EE MRA) is intended to apply to all instances, both pre- and post-market, where test reports or certification are used as the basis for regulatory compliance with respect to electrical and electronic equipment.

For regulators, the EE MRA ensures that comprehensive information relating to member economies' regulatory regimes are available to manufacturers, thereby improving compliance with regulatory requirements. The MRA also provides a 'local' contact should further information be required.

For manufacturers, the EE MRA allows product development, testing, certification, inspection and approval to be obtained within the manufacturers' economy thereby reducing 'time to market,' testing and certification costs. By having mutual recognition of test reports and certification by designated testing and certification bodies respectively, duplicate testing and certification can be avoided when products are being exported to numerous markets.

The EEMRA has three parts reflecting the different levels of participation:

Part I: Information Interchange
Part II: Acceptance of Test Reports
Part III: Acceptance of Certification

In 1997, an ad hoc Expert Working Group of the Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) began work on the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Agreement (EE MRA). The text of the arrangement was concluded and endorsed by the Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) in August 1999 at Rotorua, New Zealand. Participation in the arrangement began in 2000 when 10 APEC Member Economies signaled their intention to take part in the exchange of information.

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Part I: Information interchange

Information about a participating APEC Member Economy's mandatory requirements on regulated electrical and electronic products is provided in a standardized format to assist those in other APEC Member Economies who may wish to export electrical and electronic products to that economy. At present, 17 Member Economies are participants in Part I of the MRA.

EconomyEEMRA - Part 1 (Word)Date
Australia Yes 2006
Brunei Darussalam Yes 2006
Canada No  
Chile Yes June 2007
China Yes 2006
Hong Kong, China Yes May 2007
Indonesia Yes 2006
Japan Yes May 2007
Korea Yes 2006
Malaysia Yes 2006
Mexico No  
New Zealand Yes 2006
Papua New Guinea Yes  
Peru No  
Philippines Yes 2006
Russia Yes  
Singapore Yes May 2007
Chinese Taipei Yes June 2007
Thailand Yes Oct 2008
United States No  
Viet Nam Yes 2006

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Part II: Acceptance of test reports

Part II of the MRA commits participating APEC Member Economies to mutually accept test reports produced by testing facilities designated by participating economies in accordance with the designation requirements of the EE MRA. The designation requirements are in accordance with the relevant ISO/IEC Standards and do not require re-testing.

EconomyEEMRA - Part 2 (Word)Date
Australia Yes  
Brunei Darussalam Yes  
Canada No  
Chile No  
China No  
Hong Kong, China No  
Indonesia No  
Japan No  
Korea No  
Malaysia Yes  
Mexico No  
New Zealand Yes  
Papua New Guinea No  
Peru No  
Philippines No  
Russia No  
Singapore Yes  
Chinese Taipei No  
Thailand No  
United States No  
Viet Nam No  

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Part III: Acceptance of certification

Part III commits a participating importing APEC economy to accept product certification (including batch testing) produced by certification bodies designated by participating exporting economies in accordance with the designation requirements of the EE MRA. The designation requirements are in accordance with the relevant ISO/IEC Guide. Certification bodies may issue product certificates (Certificate of Conformity), which are acceptable in participating importing economies, thus negating the need to re-certify the product.

EconomyEEMRA - Part 3 (Word)Date
Australia Yes  
Brunei Darussalam Yes  
Canada No  
Chile No  
China No  
Hong Kong, China No  
Indonesia No  
Japan No  
Korea No  
Malaysia No  
Mexico No  
New Zealand Yes  
Papua New Guinea No  
Peru No  
Philippines No  
Russia No  
Singapore Yes  
Chinese Taipei No  
Thailand No  
United States No  
Viet Nam No  

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APEC EEMRA - Key Contact

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