FORMATION OF ACCSQ WG ON INFORMATION
Owing to the fact that standards can be used both to facilitate and to restrict trade, the ASEAN Economic Minister at their 24th Meeting held on 22-23 October 1992 in Manila approved the establishment of the ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ), aiming to facilitate the removal of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) among ASEAN Member Countries to expand intra- and extra-ASEAN trade. Three Technical Working Groups were setup by the ACCSQ where one of which was the Technical Working Group on Information and Mutual Recognition Agreement.
In 1998, the ACCSQ restructured the three Technical Working Groups to becoming four Working Groups, one of which is the Working Group on Information.
THE ROLE OF ACCSQ WORKING GROUP ON INFORMATION AND ITS DEVELOPMENT TO DATE
Role of the ACCSQ Working Group on Information
One of the important parts of elimination of technical barriers to trade is to make regulations transparent and information regarding them accessible to all parties concerned.
The Working Group on Information has been tasked to perform this main role and this is implemented through the following mechanism:
i) Gathering and dissemination of relevant information on standards, regulations and conformity assessments of interest to ASEAN to facilitate intra and extra ASEAN trade. This includes exchange of information between ASEAN and its dialogue partners namely the Closer Economic Relations (CER) countries, Japan and the European Union;
ii) Developing a three-year Work Programme on information on standards, regulations and conformity assessments issues; and
iii) Close coordination and cooperation with other ACCSQ Working Groups.
Achievements to Date
Currently, the Working Group has established six types of information in relation to standards, regulations and conformity assessment. These are:
a. ASEAN Standards and Conformance Homepages
b. Directory of Contact Points for Standards and Technical Information
c. Biannual Publication of the ASEAN Standards and Quality Bulletin
d. Directory of Certified Products/Companies
e. Directory of testing/calibration services
f. Standards Catalogues
In line with the rapid growth of information technology, the Working Group, where possible, has maximised the utilisation of IT in enhancing its works. For instance, members are encouraged to establish their respective websites with specific requirements, publish directories and catalogues on CD ROM and/or website to ease the retrievals of specific required information. The details of each of the six types of information are described below.
The homepage of each ASEAN country, except Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, contains at least the following information:
i) About the National Standards Body
ii) List of National Standards
iii) List of Relevant Authorities / Technical Regulations
iv) Conformity Assessment Procedures
v) List of Certified Companies
vi) List of Contact Points in Standards and Conformance
vii) Other links
The respective member economies homepage addresses’ are as follows:
Directory of Contact Points for Standards and Technical Information
The Directory of Contact Points for Standards and Technical Information is a reference source with regards to the contact details of ASEAN member countries’ standards organisations, regulatory bodies and World Trade Organization Technical Barrier to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosinatary Measures (WTO TBT and SPS) enquiry points.
The Directory is updated at least twice a year or upon changes notified by member countries. The Directory is accessible through the ASEAN Secretariat Website, http://www.aseansec.org/. Figure 1 below illustrates the current website on the Directory of Contact Points.
Figure 1: ASEAN Standards and Conformance Website
Biannual Publication of the ASEAN Standards and Quality Bulletin
The ASEAN Standards and Quality Bulletin is published twice a year aiming to disseminate information regarding standardization activities within the ASEAN region. The content of the bulletin includes articles, recent highlights, new standards published by each member country and calendar of events. Every issue has different theme to address current issues in standards and conformity assessment.
The Bulletin is available in hard copies until its eighth issue. Following that, the subsequent issues were published electronically through the ASEAN Secretariat website (http://www.aseansec.org) until now.
Directory of Certified Products/Companies
The Directory consists of listings of certified products/companies (ISO 9000/ISO 14000) available in each ASEAN member countries. The Directory is usually published annually by some ASEAN countries and they are either published in hard copies only; through the member coutries’ homepage only; or both.
The following economies have their Directories available through their websites:
i) Indonesia: http://www.dprin.go.id (in Indonesian language only)
ii) Malaysia: http://www.dsm.my (for DSM accredited certification companies only)
ii) Singapore: http://www.psbcorp.com
iv) Thailand: http://www.tisi.go.th (in Thai language only)
v) Vietnam: http://www.tcvn.gov.vn and http://www.quacert.gov.vn
Directory of Testing/Calibration Services
The Directory consists of listings and information of Accredited Testing and Calibration Laboratories of respective member countries . Similar to the Directory of Certified Products/Companies, this Directory is usually published annually by some ASEAN countries and they are either published in hard copies only; through the member coutries’ homepage only; or both.
The following economies have their Directories available through their websites:
i) Indonesia: http://www.bsn.or.id
ii) Malaysia: http://www.dsm.gov.my
ii) Singapore: http://www.spring.gov.sg
iii) Thailand: http://www.tisi.go.th
v) Vietnam: http://www.tcvn.gov.vn
Standards Catalogues
Standards Catalogue is an essential document in obtaining information on the availability of national standards of respective ASEAN countries. This document is usually published annually by member countries in hard copies.
Beside the hard copies, the online catalogues are also available on some of member countries’ website for easy search and reference:
i) Indonesia: http://www.bsn.or.id
ii) Malaysia:http://www.dsm.gov.my and http://www.sirim.my
iii) Singapore: http://www.standards.org.sg/index.cfm
iii) Thailand: http://www.tisi.go.th and
http://library.tisi.go.th
v) Vietnam: http://www.tcvn.gov.vn
INNOVATIVE WAYS TO BETTER DISSEMINATE INFORMATION ON STANDARDS AND CONFORMANCE
With current implementation of AFTA, need for updated, new and fast retrieval of information on standards and conformance is pertinent to the industry to stimulate intra- and extra-ASEAN trade.
This Working Group will continuously improve its work to supplement the ACCSQ in the dissemination of information. It acknowledges the fact that the current mechanism of information dissemination is not as effective as the ACCSQ aspires it to be.
In view of this, at the seventh meeting held on 1 – 2 March 2003 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, the Working Group explored the opportunity of working together with Dialogue Partners especially Japan to better improve such information dissemination. Amongst the innovative ways proposed and to be implemented are:
a) Revamping the current ACCSQ Website or homepage to be more focused and relevant;
b) Establishing the “Standards and Conformance News Flash” to alert the stakeholders on the updates of ACCSQ activities;
c) Restructuring the content of the Standards and Conformance Bulletin to meet the needs of the stakeholder; and
d) Publishing the ASEAN Standards and Quality Bulletin in hard and electronic copies rather than the electronic copy alone, which is limited to internet users only. Availability in hard copies addresses the current deficiency of internet infrastructure capabilities of some member countries.
CONCLUSION
ACCSQ Working Group on Information recognizes the importance of IT in today’s world in giving access to information and enhancing communication. However, to some extent, the conventional ways of dissemination like the hard copy of books are still practical.
It is hoped that with this new innovative ways of dissemination to be implemented in 2003, it would spearhead the effectiveness and the information is of use to the industry.
You are also welcome to give constructive comments to the works of this Working Group. Kindly send your feedback to the Chair of ACCSQ WG on Information at the following address:
Ms Fadilah Baharin
Director of Standards
Department of Standard Malaysia (DSM)
Level 1&2, Block C4, Parcel C
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62502 Putrjaya
Malaysia
Tel: 603-888 58 183
Fax: 603- 888 94 200
Email: fadilah@dsm.gov.my
Or the ASEAN Secretariat:
Ms Le Chau Giang
The ASEAN Secretariat
Fax : 62 21 7398234 / 62 21 7243504
Email : giang@aseansec.org
By Fadilah Baharin
Chair
ACCSQ Working Group on Information
