Thematic
session on Standards
18 March 2014
Chairman's
Report
Addendum
This Report was delivered by the
Chairman[1] of the WTO TBT Committee at the
meeting of 19-20 March 2014.
_______________
1.1. At the Sixth Triennial Review, the Committee agreed to hold thematic
sessions on standards in response to specific decisions and recommendations
contained in past and present triennial review reports.[2]
The first thematic session on standards took place on 5-6 March 2013.[3]
This second thematic session on standards was held on 18 March 2014, and
addressed the topics of (i) standards and technical infrastructure; (ii)
use of standards in technical regulations; and (iii) information on standards
from other organizations. The final programme is annexed to this statement. The
full presentations are available as Room Documents on WTO Documents Online
(under "Documents for meetings").
1.2. The
thematic session started with a presentation from Malaysia
on its experience with standards and conformity assessment infrastructure. It
focused on the role that Standards Malaysia plays in the country's standards,
quality management, accreditation, and metrology infrastructure (SQAM). It was
noted that Standards Malaysia opened up the functions of standards development
in 2012 to other agencies beyond the traditional three bodies, while retaining
SIRIM BERHAD's role as the notification and enquiry point. A new standards
development process was instituted in January 2012 that further rationalized
the distribution of responsibilities between the standards development
agencies, Standards Malaysia, the Ministry of Science, Technology &
Innovation, and others. This process succeeded in reducing the time of adoption
of international standards by three to five months, and in reducing the time required
to develop domestic standards by over one year on average. More recently, the
government took steps to systematize the justification of government
intervention when implementing regulations, and has also sought to promote
better coordination among bodies involved in technical regulations, including
the identification of "no man's land" areas where existing standards
coverage may be insufficient.
[1] Mr. Jingo Kikukawa (Japan). This
summary is provided under the Chairman's own responsibility.
[2] The
latest decisions and recommendations on standards are contained in Section 3 of
G/TBT/1/Rev.11. A Secretariat background
note with an overview of the Committee's work on standards is contained in
JOB/TBT/42 and Corr.1 (5 February 2013).
[3] The summary report of the last thematic session on standards (5-6
March 2013) is contained in document G/TBT/GEN/144. The March 2013 session considered the
topics of (i) the Code of Good Practice; (ii) the use of the "Six
Principles"; and (iii) transparency in standard-setting.