U.S, EU, China Discuss Next Steps in Product Safety Cooperation
The U.S., European Union, and China have issued a joint press statement following their second Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit held on October 26, 2010 in Shanghai1.
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U.S., EU, China Intend to Work on Traceability, Rules, Enforcement, Etc.
According to the joint press statement, the U.S., EU, and China2 intend to undertake the following specific actions within the context of their overall cooperation framework:
Harmonized product traceability - against the backdrop their respective regulatory systems, explore the possibilities of developing harmonized approaches for product traceability systems;
Similar product safety rules - compare selected existing consumer product safety requirements in their respective jurisdictions with a goal of identifying areas for further convergence;
Leverage stakeholder expertise - take advantage of the experience and expertise of U.S., EU, and China stakeholders as joint product safety activities are pursued;
Advice for manufacturers - develop within U.S., EU, and China product safety organizations, advice that each may direct broadly at relevant types of manufacturers, based on product safety issues in the specific cases that are discussed in existing bilateral information processes, in particular RAPEX-China (EU-China) and the CPSC-AQSIQ Manufacturer Notification Procedure (U.S.-China);
Surveillance model of enforcement - assess the steps required to move towards a "seamless surveillance" model of product safety enforcement involving cooperation between export, customs, and product safety authorities;
Exchange visits - explore the potential for organizing study or resident expert exchange visits to enhance mutual understanding; and
Improve implementation of Points of Consensus - within six months, lay out specific steps the parties intend to take to improve implementation of Points of Consensus3.
Next Trilateral Summit Scheduled for 2012
The next trilateral meeting will be held in the U.S. in 2012, date and location to be determined.
1The first summit was held in November 2008 in Brussels.
2For the U.S., the Consumer Product Safety Commission; for the EU, the Health and Consumers Directorate General of European Commission (DG SANCO); and for China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
3According to the joint press statement, the U.S., EU, and China reached a consensus on a number of broad points following at the October 26, 2010 summit, including the importance of (i) investment in training and quality assurance systems; (ii) enhanced tripartite cooperation; (iii) the bilateral framework of the RAPEX-China exchanges of rapid alert information between the EU and China and the CPSC-AQSIQ Manufacturer Notification Procedure for the U.S. and China; (iv) timely communication of product safety information.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 10/26/10 news, 10102607, for previous BP summary on this second summit.)
(CPSC press release, dated 10/26/10)