The United States, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Malaysia, and Viet Nam along with private sector partner, the U.S. Toy Industry Association, invite you to participate in the next event of the APEC Toy Safety Initiative, entitled An Open Dialogue on Toy Safety for all Stakeholders, to be held January 12, 2010 in Hong Kong.  This workshop is the second in a series, following the successful APEC Toy Safety Initiative Regulator Dialogue that took place August 1-2, 2009 in Singapore. 

The Open Dialogue will bring together regulatory officials from all 21 APEC economies as well as representatives of toy manufacturing and retailing firms in the region, consumer groups, and other stakeholders.  European regulatory experts will also attend.  The purpose of the one-day workshop is to deepen understanding of toy safety programs among all interested groups in order to increase transparency, encourage better standards alignment, and reduce unnecessary impediments to trade while ensuring a high level of consumer product safety. 

Unlike the Regulator Dialogue event in Singapore, the Open Dialogue in Hong Kong will be open to all stakeholders and feature speakers and panellists from a variety of stakeholder groups within the APEC region, including:

• Toy industry officials, including manufacturers and retailers
• Consumer organizations
• Government regulatory and policy officials
• Standards experts

In addition, the event will showcase findings of a recent APEC survey of toy safety regulations and requirements in the region that will highlight the challenges and opportunities for greater alignment of toy safety requirements.

Please find attached a draft agenda that describes the planned sessions.  A final agenda will be sent once it is complete.  Representatives from non-APEC economies can participate on a case by case basis pending approval by the APEC Secretariat.  Funding is available on a limited basis for representatives from APEC travel-eligible economies.  Please contact the Project Overseer, Jamie Ferman, at apectoy@N0SPAM.ita.doc.gov with any questions.  

Lastly, we have booked a block of rooms at the Grand Hyatt at a special rate of HK$1900.  In order to register for the event and to book a hotel room, please visit www.regonline.com/apec.  Please register early as space is limited.  In order to assure your hotel registration, please fill in and send the registration form which appears as a PDF link on the final registration page.