Standards & Conformity Assessment Working Group Meeting in Beijing Go back »
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Time2010-09-27 | 14:00
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Venue:Meeting Room C411A, European Chamber Beijing Office
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Address:Beijing Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100125
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Fee:Members: FREE |
Non Members: FREE
European Chamber SCA Working Group Meeting
Monday 27 September 2010, 14.00—16:00
Meeting Room C411A, European Chamber Beijing Office
Beijing Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100125
Dear Working Group member,
The European Chamber is pleased to invite you to the next SCA Working Group meeting which will be held on Monday 27 September, 14.00-16.00 at the European Chamber Office in Beijing. You are especially encouraged to attend this first meeting of the new ‘Position Paper’ year as it will provide an excellent opportunity to share developments, ideas, and to plan for the year ahead.
Tentative Agenda:
1. Update on 2010/2011 Position Paper Launch and Brussels Circuit
2. Planning for the Year Ahead
- Key goals for the year
- Key issues and developments
- Lobbying
- Future WG activities e.g. speakers, topics, events
- Future participation of members
3. Tour of table: discussion on recent developments and activity.
4. AOB
If you have any particular developments / topics you would like added to the meeting agenda for discussion - please contact Mr Jean-Paul Larche jplarche@euccc.com.cn asap.
Please register your attendance for the Working Group meeting by emailing Mr. Jean-Paul Larche jplarche@euccc.com.cn by COB Sunday 26 September 2010.
Event review
Minutes:
The meeting started with introduction of the new Business Manager for the SCA Working Group, Mr. Jean-Paul Larche. This was followed by discussion on the agenda topics below:
1. Update on Position Paper Launch 2010/2011 on 2nd September
Press Launch and Coverage
There was good press attendance and wide media coverage on the Position Paper Launch. A diverse range of responses to the launch were in the press, for example:
¨ Daily Telegraph: ‘Work with us not against us'
¨ Financial Times: ‘Foreign Companies are losing out'
¨ Wall Street Journal: ‘EU Business Group urges China to grant better market access'
¨ AP: ‘Group: China failing to keep WTO access pledges'
¨ Bloomberg: ‘European Businesses Cite 'Frustration' With Pace of Chinese Deregulations'
¨ Peoples Daily: ‘EU companies: We share aligned interests with China'
It was commented that Executive Summary was sharper than previous years, with more examples, details and a focus on market access
¨ Please check specialized press for the response to the SCA chapter
¨ Position Paper is downloadable:
http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/view/media/publications
¨ Position Paper is longer this year, 647 pages. Whilst the SCA WG and other individual WGs did reduce size of their sections, local Chamber Chapter sections were added to the paper
2. Planning for the Year Ahead
Key lobbying ideas / suggestions raised
- Focus on 1 or 2 key issues when lobbying to high-level government officials so that there is no loss of focus on key messages
- Push for more high level access to Chinese and EU government officials to ensure issues get adequate attention
- Important to find a way to convince the Chinese government that European industry is not just complaining, but providing input on how things are done internationally. The intent is to help develop the Chinese system, improve the Chinese investment environment for foreign companies, and allow domestic companies to better compete internationally.
- Seek methods to setup a regular communication scheme with relevant Chinese government organisations (working level), possibly inviting them to certain WG meetings to increase familiarity and to encourage informal discussion where ideas and views can be shared.
- Seek methods to increase communication/awareness of European Chamber key issues at high levels in the European Commission (EC). Further, encourage the EC to communicate the issues at high levels in the Chinese government. Use EC to give a sterner message to high levels of the Chinese government.
- Important to ensure we are delivering the message of the key issues / recommendations to the correct and relevant ministries / bodies e.g. based on industries affected by those issues. Will need to seek SCA members input on the relevant ministries/authorities for particular issues (per their industry) to facilitate this. Raised as an action point.
- European Chamber to keep SCA WG updated on all key relevant lobbying activities e.g. meetings with officials etc.
Other Events
It was presented that the EU-China Trade Project (EUCTP) recommenced in September 2010 and is now open for submissions of proposals of initiatives (for funding and collaboration) to promote the cause of the project. The SCA WG aims to get involved in setting up events / seminars on ‘hot topics' affecting members, which could potentially be funded by the EUCTP. The SCA WG would like to seek members' ideas and input on ‘hot topics' that could be proposed for such an event, which would involve speakers, lectures, seminars with involvement of EU and Chinese government (from a standardisation perspective). Given the recent setup of EUCTP, best date for such an event to occur would be around March 2010 - preparation/planning for proposal etc. would need to start asap.
Ideas suggested / discussed included the subject of investigating the extent of China's internationalisation of standards - relevant to concerns of EU industry on the low proportion of Chinese standards that are identical to international standards. It would be a good opportunity to raise exposure of the issue and hear a Chinese and EU perspective on this. Action point was raised to follow-up with all members for input on ‘hot topics' in the standardisation field.
EUCTP background: EUCTP supports initiatives and priorities identified under the EU-China trade dialogues between the European Commission and the People's Republic of China. Among many, these include dialogues on Intellectual Property Rights, Industrial Policy, Competition Policy, Government Procurement, Agriculture, and Customs as well as the Sustainable Trade Taskforce.
3. Tour of table: discussion on recent developments and activity
During the tour of table, some of the key developments / issues presented and discussed by members were as follows:
- [Cosmetics] Change in regulatory environment in Cosmetics industry has resulted in stricter regulation. Some recent issued regulations have lead to the registration delay of the whole industry, which has caused big negative impact on the whole industry's motivation and product launches in Chinese market.
- [Cosmetics] Four separate authorities responsible for standards on cosmetics leading to overlapping standards with different definitions for cosmetics. Makes it increasingly difficult for the industry to comply with all standards.
- [Telecoms] The selective enforcement of standards for equipment (e.g. in the mobile device arena) where some companies must comply and others do not, contributing to an ‘unfair playing field'.
- [Telecoms] The lack of a comprehensive IPR policy for the Chinese standardisation environment continues to hinder progress on IP protection issues. SAC is no longer taking interest on developing IPR policy - need to find ways to encourage further development of IPR policy.
- [Telecoms] Continued exclusion from standardisation bodies e.g. exclusion from discussion on China RoHS catalogue.
- [Telecoms] Concentration on close regulation of mobile phone industry e.g. recent draft regulation on environmental labelling specifically for phones (Call for Comment); continued triple certification requirement; regulations on China RoHS and specific data communication formats.
- [Lighting] Requirements for energy efficiency labelling on lighting products e.g. unnecessary labelling for non-consumer products.
- [Lighting] China RoHS and related certification issues (see above)
- [Lighting] Inconsistent market surveillance practices creating an ‘unfair playing field' e.g. SAIC as well as local/provincial levels being very active in market surveillance practices on foreign companies, whilst other domestic companies are not so strictly monitored.
- [Electric/Energy] Reorganisation of standards setting bodies for sector (e.g. move of responsibility from NDRC to MIIT) contributing to changes in standardisation environment.
- [Electric/Energy] Introduction of new set of standards focussing on renewable / environmental friendly energy e.g. wind power.
- [Electro-Technical/Medical] The need for China to harmonise its standards for medical devices with international standards i.e. IEC 60601-1 3rd edition, which will be implemented in all major markets by 2013.
It was commented generally (from an electro-technical perspective) that, due to SAC internal reorganisation, there have been relatively few new standards issued in recent months / the past year. A significant reduction in standardisation funding has resulted in a decrease in significant standards change and many TC projects have been axed. There have also been fewer new TCs formed in comparison with recent years. It was also observed that Ministries are playing more of a role in the standardisation environment than before (in comparison with SAC who used to play a bigger role).
4. Update on Brussels Circuit
A brief update on the Brussels Circuit, 22 - 24 September 2010, was presented at the meeting including a highlight of the key meetings held in Brussels. Overall, it was a productive and successful circuit and the Chamber received a warm reception and praise for its continuous lobbying efforts. A more detailed report of the Brussels Circuit will be circulated to SCA WG shortly.
5. AOB
¨ Recent submission of a summary of key issues from Position Paper to MOFCOM (at request of MOFCOM). Key points of Executive Summary were communicated..
¨ European Chamber met with DG Trade Negotiator for the European Union on Sept 13th (in preparation for their meeting with MOFCOM on tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade). SCA key issues were communicated / discussed at the meeting by representatives of the SCA WG.
¨ SCA WG meetings to be held every two months going forward, or as required in response to key developments in standardization environment. Next meeting tentatively scheduled for mid/late November.
Action Points:
¨ To obtain input from all SCA WG members on the key government ministries / organizations relevant to the key standardization issues (raised in Position Paper). This will help the Chamber to focus lobbying efforts by allowing communication of the issues to the most relevant ministries / organisations. This is important as the SCA WG has members from several industries, for which different ministries / organizations are involved in the standardization processes. A separate email communication will be sent to the SCA WG regarding this initiative.
¨ To obtain input from all SCA WG members on ideas for ‘hot topics' in the Chinese Standardisation environment that could be used as a basis for organising future events / seminars promoting further communication between EU Industry, EU, and Chinese government. A separate email communication will be sent to the SCA WG regarding this initiative.
Please submit feedback you have in relation to these action points to Mr. Jean-Paul Larche at jplarche@euccc.com.cn
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