Asia-Pacific Standards Related Activities
SSD works with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and with other U.S. Government Agencies to establish positions on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment related issues in discussions and negotiations pertaining to Asian member economies. The following links provide more information on Asia-Pacific activities.
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Participation in Asia-Pacific Fora Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) SSD staff participate as members of the U.S. delegation to APEC SCSC meetings.The goal of APEC's 21 member economies is to advance Asia-Pacific economic dynamism and sense of community. The objectives of the SCSC are to: encourage alignment of members’ standards with international standards; achieve recognition among APEC economies of conformity assessment in regulated and voluntary sectors;promote cooperation for technical infrastructure development; and ensure the transparency of the standards and conformity assessments of APEC economies. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Regional Standing Committee for the Asia-Pacific (RSC-AP) The ANSI RSC for the Asia Pacific is one of three ANSI Regional Standing Committees. The other two RSCs cover Europe and the Americas. These committees have been established to provide input from the ANSI perspective to regional activities in the areas of standardization and conformity assessment. They also provide a framework for raising standards-related problems. NIST participates in the regional standing committee as a member of ANSI.
Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements and Dialogues ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) . The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The standards and conformance forum within ASEAN is called the ACCSQ. The principle objectives of the ACCSQ are to reduce technical barriers to trade between countries in the region and to harmonize standards and conformance procedures. The U.S. Department of Commerce maintains a dialogue with the ACCSQ. Activities carried out under the Dialogue are listed below: -
Memorandum of Cooperation between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the ASEAN Secretariat Information on Specialist Regional Bodies The Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC)
APLAC groups organizations in the Asia Pacific region responsible for accrediting testing and inspection facilities. Members are nationally recognized accreditation bodies and are usually owned or endorsed by government. NIST/SSD currently participates in APLAC through the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). NVLAP is a signatory to the APLAC multilateral Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). Under the MRA, each organization recognizes the equivalence of accreditations performed by its overseas counterparts, and promotes the equivalence of such accreditations within its own economy. Asia-Pacific Legal MetrologyForum (APLMF)
The principle objectives of the Forum are: -
To develop and maintain mutual confidence between legal metrology authorities in the Asia-Pacific region; -
To identify and promote the removal of technical and administrative barriers to trade in the field of legal metrology; -
To promote mutual recognition arrangements between members and with other regional groups and individual nations; -
To cooperate with the International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML) and promote the use and acceptance of OIML International Recommendations and the OIML Certification Scheme. NIST/SSD currently participates in APLMF through the Technical Standards Activities Program (TSAP). The Asia-PacificMetrology Programme (APMP)
The objectives of APMP are: -
to provide mutual exchange of information, training and advice on measurement standards and capabilities; -
to provide training, advice and consultancy on the development and establishment of new standards and calibration facilities; -
to provide traceability of measurement throughout the region through calibration of measurement standards; -
to develop objective technical evidence of measurement traceability and competence as a basis for multilateral recognition; The United States currently has observer status within the APMP. The Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC)
PAC is an association of accreditation bodies and other interested parties whose objective is to facilitate trade and commerce among economies in the Asia Pacific region. Its ultimate objective is the creation of a global system that grants international recognition of certification or registration of management systems, products, services, personnel and other programs of conformity assessment. The PAC promotes the international acceptance of accreditations granted by its accreditation body members, based on the equivalence of their accreditation programs. The PAC operates within the framework of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and in cooperationwith other regional groups of accreditation bodies around the world. The United States does not currently participate in PAC. Pacific Area StandardsCongress (PASC)
PASC serves as a forum for countries on the Pacific Rim to strengthen international standardization programs of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and to improve the ability of Pacific Rim standards organizations to participate in these programs effectively. NIST/SSD participates in PASC through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) . Standards in Trade Workshops in the Asia Pacific Region For a complete listing of Standards in Trade Workshops geared towards the Asia-Pacific Region, please visit the SIT Workshop homepage. Some of the past SIT workshops for this region have included:
Standards Expert There is currently one Standards Expert located in the Asia-Pacific Region in Beijing, China. Standards Representatives serve as in-country experts and liaison for all standards-related matters, handling a wide variety of issues. They effectively contribute to U.S. businesses in their attempts to penetrate markets. Standards experts monitor standards and conformity assessment activities in the region, including participation in the planning and/or conducting of events by regional bodies. They also notify government, standards-developing organizations, trade associations, and industry technical experts of countries about discussions of standards and related issues in order to promote acceptance of U.S. positions and product certifications and to harmonize standards and procedures. The experts support the NIST Standards in Trade Workshops by identifying candidates, identifying issues, and providing technical and logistical support. They analyze standards-related issues to support government and industry trade associations and provide U.S. standards information to the government and private standards organizations of Asian countries in order to promote the harmonization of standards and conformity assessment practices in the United States.
Publications
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