Report of The THIRTY-FOURTH meeting of
The ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ)
6-8 October 2009, ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia
INTRODUCTION
1. The Thirty-Fourth Meeting of the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) was held on 6-8 October 2009 at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia. The Meeting was chaired by Mr Teo Nam Kuan, Group Director (Quality and Standards), SPRING Singapore and was co-chaired by Mr Hathai Uthai, Deputy Secretary-General, Thai Industrial Standards Institute, Ministry of Industry, Thailand. The Meeting was preceded by the 4th ACCSQ Forum on Standards and Conformance, which was held on 5 October 2009 at the same venue and followed by ACCSQ Meetings with EC Delegation (Jakarta), METI (Japan) and the PTB (Germany).
2. The Meeting was attended by representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar (Jakarta Embassy Office), Philippines (Philippines Trade and Investment Center – Embassy of Philippines), Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat. The list of delegates appears as ANNEX 1.
3. The Meeting noted the message from Mr Rob Steele, the Secretary-General of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). Mr Steele commended the ACCSQ for their success and updated the Meeting on the initiatives for the development of standards in the language of business and the ISO Strategic Plan 2011-2015.
AGENDA ITEM 1: Adoption of Agenda
4. The Meeting adopted the agenda, which appears as ANNEX 2.
AGENDA ITEM 2: Business Arrangements
5. The Meeting was held in Plenary.
AGENDA ITEM 3: UPDATE ON THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
6. The ASEAN Secretariat updated the Meeting on the recent developments under the ASEAN economic integration agenda and the relevant decisions made by the AEM and SEOM on issues related to trade facilitation and standards and conformance. The ASEAN Secretariat presentation appears as ANNEX 3.
AEC Scorecard
7. The AEC Scorecard will be reviewed regularly and the period of review for the 1st Report of the AEC Scorecard was from 1 January 2008 to 31 August 2009. The subsequent reports will be based on periods ending 30 June and 31 December of each year.
8. The High Level Task Force on Economic Integration has agreed that an Executive Summary of ASEAN’s progress and areas for improvement and the matrix of the AEC Scorecard will be submitted to the ASEAN Leaders. The ASEAN Ministers will be provided with the documents submitted to the Leaders and matrix of the implemented and not implemented measures by ASEAN and individual Member States. The Senior Officials will receive documents submitted to the Ministers and the details of the AEC Scorecard. The public version of the AEC Scorecard will be made available to the public, and it will be business-focused and will avoid technical ambiguity.
9. The Meeting agreed to request the ASEAN Secretariat to provide a list of measures that need to be implemented in a year in the beginning of that particular year so that the ACCSQ and its WGs/PWGs are updated on the tasks ahead for that year. In this regard, the ASEAN Secretariat agreed to circulate the measures to be implemented in 2010 in January 2010 after the second review of the AEC Scorecard by 31 December 2009.
AEC Communication Plan
10. Several projects have been planned under the AEC Communication Plan throughout 2008 and the first half of 2009, which includes the “Ten Benefits of ASEAN Economic Community”, AEC Press/Media Kits (Fact sheets, FAQs and ASEAN Publications), CD-ROM on Rules of Origin, and Testimonials/Success Stories/Features Articles.
ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA)
11. The ATIGA was signed on 26 February 2009 and will enter into force before 15th ASEAN Summit which will be held on 23-25 October 2009 in Thailand upon ratification by all Member States. Noting that the delay in the entry into force of the ATIGA will also delay the implementation of the various new initiatives and the expected benefits offered under the provisions of ATIGA, the 23rd AFTA Council has agreed that the delays in the implementation should be included in the AEC Scorecard and reported to the Leaders at the forthcoming 15th ASEAN Summit.
12. The implementation of the ATIGA will be carried out through the Implementing Committee of the ATIGA. The Meeting agreed to await the guidance from the AFTA Council on the procedure and mechanism for the implementation of the chapter on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures of the ATIGA.
ASEAN Trade Facilitation Work Programme
13. The updated ASEAN Trade Facilitation Work Programme will be conveyed to the relevant ASEAN bodies for their reference and inputs on the measures under their respective purview. An ASEAN Trade Facilitation Framework has also been established and endorsed by the 23rd AFTA Council to serve as a guideline for Member States in undertaking trade facilitation reforms in their respective countries.
Priority Integration Sectors
14. The 41st AEM noted the status of the implementation of the measures of the Roadmaps for Priority Integration Sectors (PIS) and agreed that there are implementation gaps, which need to be addressed, particularly in the specific measures and cooperation measures involving the public and private sectors. In this regard, the 41st AEM tasked the Country Coordinators for the PIS and ASEAN Secretariat to hold a workshop to review the implementation of the PIS initiatives.
ASEAN – FTA Negotiations
a) ASEAN-China
15. The ASEAN-China MoU on Strengthening Cooperation in the field of Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment (TBT MoU) has been finalised and expected to be signed at the sidelines of 12th ASEAN-China Summit in October 2009. The AQSIQ has requested the ACCSQ to consider retaining “government” in the title of the MoU. In this regard, the Meeting requested the ASEAN Secretariat to liaise with the Legal officers on the proposed changes. This will be further discussed under agenda item 7.2.
b) ASEAN-Japan
16. The ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement entered into force in December 2008. It was noted that Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines were urged to expedite their respective domestic ratification process for the entry into force of the Agreement for them. The implementation of the provisions for standards and conformance will be carried out through a sub-committee led by Malaysia.
c) ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK)
17. The full implementation of ASEAN-Korea FTA will begin in January 2010. It was further noted that Work Programme based on the matrix of the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation on SPS and the matrix of the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation on the Standards and Conformity Assessment was discussed by the WG on SPS/TBT.
d) ASEAN-Close Economic Relations (CER)
18. The ASEAN-Australia/New Zealand FTA Economic Cooperation Work Programme (ECWP) will enter into force on 1 January 2010. As of now, Singapore and New Zealand have ratified the AANZFTA Agreement. The implementation of the FTA will be discussed upon entry into force of the agreement.
AGENDA ITEM 4: ACCSQ FORUM ON STANDARDS AND CONFORMANCE
19. The ASEAN Secretariat briefed the Meeting on the outcome of the 4th ACCSQ Forum on Standards and Conformance” held on 5 October 2009.
20. The Meeting noted that the series of forum was initiated in 2008 from the 31st ACCSQ Meeting as a means to assess if the current policies and strategies for standards and conformance can continue to support the realisation of a single market by 2015. The need to assess the policies and strategies arose with significant developments in ASEAN such as the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter, signing of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint and its regular monitoring mechanism through the AEC Scorecard.
21. The series of Forum covered presentations on issues related to standards, conformity assessment procedures and the ASEAN Conformity Mark. Presentations also covered views on integration initiatives towards a single market in the EU. The Forums included a panel discussion during which the ACCSQ engaged in an interactive session with the speakers and the outcome of these panel discussions were a set of recommendations which was further discussed and endorsed during the ACCSQ Meetings.
22. During the 33rd ACCSQ Meeting, the ACCSQ requested the ASEAN Secretariat to further elaborate on the recommendations from the Forum in close cooperation with the WGs/PWGs and experts/consultant and put up a proposal to the ACCSQ on the way forward for a strategic approach for standardisation and regulatory framework that will support the recent related developments in ASEAN. In this regard, the 4th ACCSQ Forum on Standards and Conformance was designed to provide a concept for common rules for standards and conformance to achieve one of the objectives of the ASEAN Single Market which is the free flow of goods. The forum proposed concepts for harmonised legislations for sectors where convergence is possible and in cases where harmonisation cannot be met, the concept of mutual recognition of products legally marketed in a Member State was explored. The roles of standards, conformity assessment procedures and the ASEAN Conformity Mark as tools for compliance to these legislations were also explored. These concepts were built upon the recommendations made and endorsed during the last three Forums.
23. The Meeting discussed the outcome of the 4th ACCSQ Forum which appears as ANNEX 4.
24. Thailand expressed appreciation to the efforts taken to propose the concept for standards and conformance. Thailand further added that there is a need to have further studies which includes feasibility and economic benefits of the proposal. There was also need to have political will from all Member States and as such more time was needed to carry out national consultations among stakeholders. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Singapore supported the views of Thailand. In this regard, the Meeting agreed to hold a half-day session prior to the 35th ACCSQ to further discuss this proposal.
25. Member States were requested to carry out national consultations on the proposed concept, such as the existence of the legal framework to support this approach. In this regard, the ASEAN Secretariat was requested to provide more input on the legal aspects as well as the feasibility of the proposal and the possible time needed to put in place such a system.
26. The Meeting agreed that comments on the concept should be submitted to Thailand by 30 November 2009 and Thailand will subsequently circulate the compilation of comments to the Member States for further input by 31 January 2010.
AGENDA ITEM 5: MATTERS ARISING FROM THE 33rd ACCSQ MEETING
27. The ASEAN Secretariat briefed the Meeting on the follow-up actions taken on matters arising from the 33rd ACCSQ Meeting held on 17-19 March 2009 in Singapore. The report from the ASEAN Secretariat appears as ANNEX 5.
28. The Meeting agreed to discuss the pending issues under the appropriate agenda items.
ASEAN Policy Guideline on Standards and Conformance
29. The ASEAN Secretariat presented the Executive Summary of the Status of Implementation of the ASEAN Policy Guidelines for Standards and Conformance (APGSC) among Member States based on the feedback received from ASEAN Member States during the survey carried out from September 2008 to October 2008. The deadline was subsequently extended till February 2009. The ASEAN Secretariat’s report appears as ANNEX 6.
30. The Meeting noted that:
a) generally all Member States have taken the appropriate actions to ensure the provisions of the APGSC are being implemented;
b) more guidance for Member States was needed to ensure that the information provided is more specific to enable a thorough study of the status of implementation;
c) the information received so far indicates the steps taken by the National Standards Body (NSB) only; and
d) there still lacks information at the sectoral level.
31. The ASEAN Secretariat recommended that the NSBs also coordinate with the relevant sectors to provide more information taken on the implementation of the APGSC.
32. Noting that the ACCSQ may also be requested to monitor the implementation of the ATIGA and that the standards and conformance provisions were based on the APGSC, it was recommended to coordinate the monitoring of ATIGA and APGSC to avoid duplication of efforts.
AGENDA ITEM 6: PROGRESS OF WORKING GROUPS AND PRODUCT
WORKING GROUPS UNDER ACCSQ
10. The ASEAN Secretariat informed the Meeting that the Progress Report of the WGs/PWGs under the purview of the ACCSQ has been compiled and will be used to update the Meeting on the progress made by the WGs/PWGs in their respective sectors. The Progress Reports of the WGs/PWGs appear as ANNEX 7.
6.1 Progress in WG 1 - Standards and MRAs
11. The Chair of WG 1 reported to the Meeting the outcome of the 24th Meeting of WG 1 held from 9-10 July 2009 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
12. The Meeting discussed the need to submit the ASEAN Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) Guide to the AEM for endorsement as raised by the WG 1 and agreed that endorsement by the AEM can be carried out upon finalisation of the revision of the ASEAN GRP Guide as proposed by Viet Nam. In this regard, the Meeting requested the WG 1 review the GRP Guide as proposed by Viet Nam.
13. The Meeting endorsed the Report of the 24th WG 1 Meeting and its Work Programme which appear together as ANNEX 8.
6.2 Progress in WG 2 – Accreditation and Conformity Assessment
14. The Chair of WG 2 reported to the Meeting the outcome of the 18th WG 2 Meeting held from 14-15 July 2009 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
15. The Meeting noted the strategies of the WG 2 following the recommendations from the 3rd ACCSQ Forum on Standards and Conformance for a broader horizontal approach for accreditation and conformity assessment. In this regard, the WG 2 also proposed the review of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on MRAs noting that the scope of the agreement covers conformity assessment. Noting that the developments of MRAs were under the purview of WG 1, the Meeting requested the WG 2 to liaise with WG 1 during the review of the agreement.
16. The Meeting also noted the support from the Member States to the CLMV by extending technical assistance in this area through participation at these programmes.
17. The Chair of WG 2 further urged the Meeting to seek clarification from the PTB on the status of implementation of the pending projects that had been submitted to the PTB for implementation.