ICPHSO 2011 Annual Meeting “The Art of Information Sharing”

ICPHSO 2011 Annual Meeting“The Art of Information Sharing” T. Khoi Do

Agenda UL Overview Processing the Information Issues with Information Sharing Recommendations for Information Sharing 2

UL Overview • Founded in 1894 by William Henry Merrill • Standards Development Organization – Over 1,400 Standards in UL Family • Tests and Certifies a Vast Range of Products – Over 19,000 Types, and over 20 Billion UL Marks worldwide • Product Safety Mission Expanding [UL Environment, Verification Services, Health and Life Sciences, and UL University] • Approximately 7,000 Employees Based in 27 Countries • Customers Located in 102 Countries • Private Sector Company: Not Government

Information • There are 153 WTO Member Countries • Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other Member countries. • There are 40 ICS Codes, and the most pertinent to product safety is “ICS 13 = Environment, Health, Safety” – This has ranked in the top 2 categories notified since 2005 • 2003-2011 – Total WTO TBT notifications = 8300, Notifications classified as Health, Safety: 932 (little more than 10% of all notifications) • In 2009, 46% of WTO TBT notifications listed “Protection of health and human safety,” as their rationale • 2005-2010: Health and Safety was in the top 5 of all search terms used in Notify U.S. by US industry 5

Common Problems • Translation of Technical Documents • WTO Members are only required to notify in English, French or Spanish, but actual technical documents sometimes need extensive translation • Multiple administrations or agencies having jurisdiction over product safety in a given country • Regional Trading Blocs (Mercosur, ASEAN, and Gulf Cooperation Council) • Potential for multiple sources of information and differing interpretations, varying levels of enforcement and implementation time, and inefficient commenting process • Comment period may not adequately allow for dialogue and meaningful feedback • Comment period is usually 60 days, but are sometimes less 7

Regional Trading Bloc Issue Example This draft technical regulation lays down the safety requirements applied to all products placed on the GCC market, whether manufactured in or imported into GCC. In the absence of more specific provisions, within the framework of GCC legislations covering safety of the products, all the provisions of this regulation should apply in order to ensure consumer health and safety. If specific GCC legislation sets out special safety requirements to the specific products then those determined by the provisions of the specific legislation supersede this general product safety regulation.

Practical Recommendations • Translation of Technical Documents • A strong need for translation services at the multilateral level with WTO TBT Committee to facilitate timely translation (potential for funding from all member states) • Jurisdiction Issues • Members need to communicate clear and transparent organizational charts, jurisdiction of relevant agencies and administrations, and distinction of each group’s role in the product safety process • Regional Trading Blocs • Regional trading blocs should register notifications as a bloc and find ways to communicate as a group when designing regulations • Comment Period • Process should be instituted to allow for constructive feedback and a perhaps a mechanism for member country response to comments if substantial 10

Recommendations for Information Sharing • Multilateral and bilateral forums can serve a critical role for member countries to share information and increase transparency • Facilitating transparent communication and increased information sharing on standards, technical requirements, and conformance programs to streamline market access for manufacturers and to support adequate testing capacity. • Identifying priority efforts or emerging issues where standards, testing requirements, and certification/labeling programs will be shared and cooperatively developed in an expedited process • Organizing platforms where economies can provide technical assistance and training with one another to improve standards and conformance regimes and understand the standards and specific editions being used internationally. • Private sector engagement in this dialogue will better position efforts for global adoption and use of international best practices • Specifically, standards organizations and product certification bodies familiar with standards and conformity assessment schemes can help drive and support harmonization and information sharing activities. • Proactive monitoring of these notifications and developments will help to minimize the amount of burdensome standards and ineffective requirements 11

THANK YOU.T. Khoi DoGlobal Government Affairs SpecialistKhoi.do@us.ul.com

ICPHSO 2011 Annual Meeting “The Art of Information Sharing”