U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Bureau of Market Access & Compliance

The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Market Access & Compliance, International Trade Administration, publishes a monthly newsletter featuring recent developments in the standards field all over the world.  Stay on top of these important issues for manufacturers and exporters! 

March 2008 Standards Newsletter

Assistant Secretary Sutton Meets with ISO Secretary General

Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, Woody Sutton, met with Alan Bryden, Secretary General of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), at Commerce on February 29.  During the meeting ITA representatives expressed concern about recent ISO standardization activities in the areas of biotechnology, data privacy, and social responsibility.  ISO has recently been focusing on standardization in areas where governments have had the lead in regulating.

Bryden announced March 13 that he will retire from ISO at the end of 2008.

U.S. Industry Proposes Toy Testing Program

The U.S. toy industry has released for public comment a new industry safety assurance program that requires that toys to be sold in the United States be tested at accredited laboratories to assure conformance with U.S. toy safety requirements and ASTM’s toy safety standard.  Comments are being accepted through March 24.  Both the House and Senate have now approved Consumer Product Safety reauthorization legislation that would require mandatory independent, third party testing of all toys to be sold in the United States within one year of the CPSC reauthorization becoming law.  The Senate and House CPSC bills still need to be reconciled in conference.

APEC Standards Committee Focuses on Food Issues

The APEC Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance met in Lima, Peru February 25 and 26.  On the agenda were food issues, good regulatory practice, standards education, encouraging interaction with business, and active participation by APEC economies in international standardization.  The United States plans to co-sponsor with China and Australia a seminar on national food safety systems that will take place in August 2008 in Peru.

ASEAN Standards

The ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) will meet March 17 in Bangkok, Thailand.  On the agenda is consideration of an ASEAN-wide conformity assessment mark.  ASEAN member economies seek to harmonize standards and conformity assessment procedures in order to increase ASEAN global exports.  ITA will participate in a U.S.-ASEAN Partner Dialogue meeting with ACCSQ representatives later that week to discuss U.S. standards projects in the region.  ITA organized two workshops in 2007 on medical devices and biofuels/automotive issues in the ASEAN region with funding from the U.S. ASEAN Enhanced Partnership.

SPP Ministers Meet on Safe Food and Products

Safe food and products was one of the five priority areas reviewed at the SPP Ministers Meeting in Mexico February 27-28.  The focus in this area is to strengthen cooperation to better identify, assess, and manage unsafe food and products before they enter North America, and collaborate to promote the compatibility of related regulatory and inspection regimes.  SPP leaders will be meeting in mid-April.

Brazil

On March 11, Brazil’s medical device regulations and third party testing requirements for toys were discussed during a meeting of the Brazil Consultative Mechanism in Washington.  That same day, ITA and Brazil’s IMETRO standards organization held a digital video conference to exchange information about remanufacturing.

Agribusiness Concerned About a Draft Agricultural Sustainability Standard

Commerce is working with industry stakeholders concerned about a draft U.S. agricultural sustainability standard being developed by Leonardo Academy. Producers of biotech products would not be able to comply with the standard as currently drafted.   ITA has worked to alert industry about this standard and to encourage their participation in the development of the standard.  ITA also arranged a March 14 meeting between industry stakeholders and American National Standards Institute representatives to clarify the process and procedures that Leonardo Academy will use in developing the agricultural sustainability standard.

TBT Committee

The WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Committee) will meet in Geneva March 18-20.  The United States expects to raise a number of new issues at the meeting including a) unique French requirements for riding lawnmowers; b) a  Korean standard for universal AC adapters for notebook computers; c) Colombian certification requirements for imported refrigerators; d) proposed South African food labeling and advertising requirements for foodstuffs;  e) China information security regulations; f) India medical device regulations; g) Canadian restrictions on baby food container sizes; and h) China medical device regulations.  There will be a workshop on good regulatory practices held immediately prior to the TBT Committee meeting.

Latest Draft of ISO Social Responsibility Standard Released for Comment

The fourth draft of the ISO standard on social responsibility (ISO 26000) was released for comment on March 11.  EPA Standards Executive Mary McKiel attends the international meetings on social responsibility and USG agencies will meet March 24 to draft comments to be submitted to the U.S. Technical Advisory Group.  The expectation is that this is the last draft before the document is converted to a Committee Draft, which is more difficult to modify.

Standards Training for Vietnam

ITA and ANSI representatives provided training on the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system and good regulatory practice to staff from Vietnam’s Directorate for Standards and Quality and other Vietnamese public and private sector representatives the week of March 10 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Upcoming Meetings

March 26: Standards Working Group Meeting on the Import Safety Action Plan and Food and Product Safety.

Standards Arrivals

Welcome to Shalizeh Nadjmi, the new ASEAN desk officer in MAC.  Also, Jane Doherty is the new Codex/SPS contact in USTR’s Agriculture Office.