ROLE OF STANDARDS AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT IN REGIONAL AND GLOBAL TRADE

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ROLE OF STANDARDS AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT IN
REGIONAL AND GLOBAL TRADE

• Presented at the ACCSQ Seminar
• 20-22 November 2001, Cambodia
• by
• Mr Teo Nam Kuan
• General Manager
• Standards and Metrology Group
• Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (PSB)

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What is Standardisation?

• Standardisation takes place everywhere
• Standards developed based on
• transparency
• openness
• impartiality and consensus
• effectiveness and relevance
• coherence
• development dimension

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What is Standardisation?

• Standards developing organisations
• National standards bodies
• International standards developing organisations
  (ISDOs)
• Sectoral standards developing organisations
  (SDOs)
• Consortia standards developing organisations
• Innovation, productivity, quality and
  standardisation

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Types of Standards

• Compatibility/Interface standards
• Minimum quality/Safety standards
• Variety reduction standards
• Information/Measurement standards

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Standardisation, Conformity Assessment and Trade

• Conformity assessment and trade
• Technical regulation and trade

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WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade

• WTO TBT Agreement established in 1994
• To ensure that technical regulations and
  standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to
  intl trade
• Examples of TBTs
• differing voluntary standards
• differing technical regulations
• differing means of attestation of conformance

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• Article 2.4 of TBT Agreement
• Where technical regulations are required and
  relevant international standards exist..,
  Members shall use them, or the relevant parts of
  them, as a basis for their technical regulations
  except when such international standards or
  relevant parts would be an ineffective or
  inappropriate means .

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• Annex 3.E of TBT Agreement
• The standardising body shall ensure that
  standards are not prepared, adopted or applied
  with a view to, or with the effect of, creating
  unnecessary obstacles to international trade..

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• Article 6.3 of TBT Agreement
• Members are encouraged,.., to be willing to
  enter into negotiations for the conclusion of
  agreements for the mutual recognition of results
  of each others conformity assessment
  procedures.

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Dollar Value of Trade Affected by Standards for
Singapore
Amount of Trade (S in millions) Singapores
Trading Partner Affected by Standards and
Regulations (OECDs 80 guideline) MRA
Partner Australia 7,600 New Zealand
766 Potential MRA Partners Japan 46,323 Uni
ted States 60,725 Canada
1,382 Mexico 1,681 Total amount of Trade
(S in millions) 118,487 Affected by Standards
and Regulations
Source 1. Trade statistics from the Trade
Development Board 2. OECD report
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Involvement in FTAs/MRAs

• FTAs signed
• New Zealand
• FTAs in progress
• Australia
• Japan
• United States
• EFTA
• Mexico
• G-G MRAs signed
• Australia

• Regional MRAs signed
• APEC Electrical and Electronic Mutual Recognition
  Arrangement
• ASEAN Sectoral Mutual Recognition Arrangement for
  Electrical and Electronic Equipment

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Singapores Involvement in FTAs
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Singapores Involvement in MRAS
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PSBs Involvement in Trade Facilitation

• Standardisation for trade facilitation
• wider and deeper involvement in bilateral and
  regional MRAs
• standardisation programme will take on greater
  international orientation
• advisory role to govt on standards and
  conformance issues
• oversee entire standards and conformance
  framework - holistic and coordinated approach

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THANK YOU