Standards and Conformance as Non-Tariff Trade Barriers: Commerce Assistance to U.S Exporters

ITA Standards Liaison’s OfficeU.S. Department of Commercewww.trade.gov/standards

Introduction: Commerce Standards Initiative

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• 6 Years since the launch of the Commerce Standards Initiative

• Standards and Conformance issues continue serve as major problems to U.S. exporters and are a priority for the Commercial Service

• Report Location• http://ts.nist.gov/

Standards/upload/trade_barriers_report-2.pdf

Trade Agreements: The rules of the game

• WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT) and the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) are the major agreements that govern how standards and conformance are used in Members technical regulations.

• U.S. Free Trade Agreements also typically contain provisions or chapters on TBT and SPS

• USTR is the overall lead on these agreements

• TCC contact: Bryan O’Byrne is the ITA TBT POC Bryan.OByrne@trade.gov

• TCC contact: Christine Brown is the ITA SPS POC Christine.Brown@trade.gov

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Codex Alimentarius

• -- USDA and FDA are the lead agencies for Codex Alimentarius, the United Nations food safety standards developer

• -- Codex Alimentarius is referenced in the SPS Agreement as the "relevant international organization" for developing food safety standards

• -- ITA is active in interagency work on Codex, particularly on making sure that Codex standards and ISO standards on food products are complementary

• -- TAC/OMA contacts: Eileen Hill (Eileen.Hill@trade.gov)

and Renee Hancher (Renee.Hancher@trade.gov) are the ITA Codex POCs 4

Standards in Trade

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Standards: Use driven by markets or regulators?

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Standard developed by private

sector

Manufacturer or Retail requires the standard

Your customer uses the

standard for market

acceptance

Standard developed by private

sector

Regulator chooses a

standard based on health, safety or security need

Your customer uses the

standard for market

compliance

Standard developed

by regulators

Regulator develops and agrees to the

standard based on a health,

safety or security need

Your customer uses the

standard for market

compliance

Frequently Asked Questions on Standards

Q: What is considered an international standard? The country where I am located only accepts ISO or IEC as international standards.

A: The U.S. does not name specific organizations as those developing international standards. Our position is to promote broad acceptance of standards that follow WTO TBT Committee Decision, which lays out principles for international standards development that include:– Transparency– Openness– Impartiality and consensus– Effectiveness and relevance– Coherence– Development Dimension

• http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/standards/Final%20Site/International%20Standards.htm

Advocacy: Ensure standards development and regulatory processes are open for U.S. interests to make technical comments.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Standards

Q: Why aren’t standards developed in the United States free?

• A: Some of the standards developers in the U.S. need to charge for standards so that they can continue the work of their organizations.

• A: However some of the standards bodies either provide their standards for free, like the Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute or the National Fire Protection Association

• A: Some also have MOU programs with the National Standards Bodies of your country, like ASTM International or Underwriters Laboratories.

Advocacy: Check to see what sectors the country might be interested in, and we may be able to connect them with low cost standards, developed in the U.S.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Standards

Q: I see the EU having a lot of influence on my country’s standards or regulatory body. What does the U.S. offer?

A: The EU has a top down, centralized strategy in its approach to standards development. The U.S. has a bottom up, decentralized, market-driven approach to standardization.

A: Given these approaches, the EU has provided a greater amount of technical assistance for developing countries on issues relating to standards and conformance

A: The U.S. has improved its approach to technical assistance in the last few years, with greater support from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and other U.S. public and private sector programs.

Advocacy: If you see this trend, help us investigate with the donor agencies what U.S. assistance exists for your market.

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Hot Topics in Standards

• Green Buildings• Renewable Energy Standards (Photovoltaic, Wind) • Nuclear• Intelligent Transportation Systems• Energy Efficiency Products• Nanotechnol0gy • Smart Grid• Cyber security• Electric Vehicles• Carbon Footprint

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New Developments in 2011

• USTR Report on Technical Barriershttp://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/TBT%20Report%20Mar%2025%20Master%20Draft%20Final%20pdf%20-%20Adobe%20Acrobat%20Pro.pdf

• White House’s newly formed National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Standardshttp://standards.gov/standards_gov/nstcsubcommitteeonstandards.cfm

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Conformity Assessment in Trade

• Conformity to a standard may be required by the marketplace (another manufacturer, retailer) or a regulatory body.

• The U.S. uses a variety of conformity assessment tools, any one of the following tools may be suitable for U.S. exports depending on the level of risk of the product and the reliability and trust between the parties involved in the transaction.– Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity– Inspection– Accreditation– Independent Testing– Third Party Certification

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Typical Exporter Issues with Conformity Assessment

• Preference for Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity over third-party testing (government or independent).

• Type Approval• Lack of information of what testing is required or how to obtain

a certification• Redundant testing• Testing that is above what is usually required• Limited Testing facilities (which may limit time to market)• Concern for IPR/Patent protection • Expense of additional testing• Questions to whether testing actually occurs• Problems with inspection bodies (expense, IPR concerns, time

to inspect).Advocacy: Conformance problems and solutions may be very

specific and may involve multiple parties. Please consult with us to help tailor the solution for the exporter’s problem.

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Conformity Assessment: Conformance Marks

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Resources for Marking Questions

• CE Marking– http://www.export.gov/cemark/doc_ce_mark_main.as

p– Sylvia Mohr (US/EU) Sylvia.Mohr@trade.gov– Bob Straetz (HQ) Robert.Straetz@trade.gov

• UL Marking– Khoi Do (Khoi.Do@mail.doc.gov) at Underwriters

Laboratories• CCC Marking

– http://www.export.gov/china/exporting_to_china/importregs.asp

– Jenny May (OCEA) Jenny.May@trade.gov

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Other Commercial Service Contacts on Standards

• Other contacts not previously listed in my presentation:• Standards Attaches:

– Mexico City: Everett Waikai – Everett.Waikai@trade.gov

– Brussels: Bill Thorn – William.Thorn@trade.gov– Beijing: Dale Wright – Dale.Wright@trade.gov– Sao Paolo: Miguel Hernandez Miguel.Hernandez@

trade.gov

• Thank you!

• Ryan Kane• Office of the ITA Standards Liaison• U.S. Department of Commerce• 202-482-1983• Ryan.Kane@trade.gov

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