G/TBT/GEN/140  
 
13 February 2013  
(13-0777)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  INFORMATION PROVIDED BY UNECE ON WP.6 ACTIVITIES 
 
 This document contains information provid ed by the UNECE at the TBT Committee meeting 
of 27-28 November 2012 under Agenda Item 4 (Update by Observers). 
 
 
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1.1.  The WP. 6 continues to develop its activities, broadly aimed at promoting good practice in the development and implementation of technical regulations. The mandate includes standardization 
policies, regulatory cooperation, conformity a ssessment, market surveillance, accreditation and 
metrology along with other flanking issues.  
1.2.  The UNECE WP. 6  held its 22nd annual meeting from 7 to 9 October 2012. At this meeting 
the following took place:  
a. The launch of a publication “Risk Management in Regulatory Frameworks”. The 
publication is available free of charge on the UNECE website and physical copies can be 
mailed upon request. The publication introduces presents a novel and holistic model for 
managing risks in regulatory frameworks based on international standards. It is 
conceived as a practical guide, that takes regulators through the main phases of the risk management process as adapted to the reality of regulatory work in all its different 
phases (from the development of the regulati on, to the design of conformity assessment 
mechanisms and market surveillance actions). The publication is also available for download at: 
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/tra de/Publications/WP6_ECE_TRADE_390.pdf  
b. Held a Workshop on "Introducing Standards-related issues into educational curricula", 
aimed at making education on standards-related activities an essential part of the curriculum at universities, higher-education establishments and vocational-training 
institutions. All the major standards-setting bodies – in particular the IEC Secretary-
General and representatives of ITU and ISO -  presented their activities as regards training and cooperation with academia and universities. Professors and deans of 
faculties from European, Latin American and Asian universities also participated in the 
Workshop. The Workshop also provided an opportunity for playing a board game on environmental standards, specifically developed by a University from Japan. In conclusion, the Working Party adopted a recommendation on “Education on standards-
related issues”. It encourages governments to further and promote education and 
training on standards and standards-related issues. To follow up on the workshop a group of experts will be formed and start wo rking on the development of practical tools 
for use by universities. The group is open-end ed in nature so, if any of the delegations 
have interest in this line of work, I would encourage them to express their interest to the UNECE secretariat.  
c. A High-Level Segment on Regulatory Cooper ation was held discussing President Obama's 
Executive Order of May 2012 on Regulatory  Cooperation, which was presented by a 
representative of OIRA On-going efforts towards regulatory approximation between the European Union and the Eurasian -Economic Commission, and regulatory cooperation in 
the context of APEC were also discussed.  G/TBT/GEN/140 
 
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  1.3.  At the annual meeting,  there was a re view of progress made by the UNECE sectoral 
initiatives that promote regulatory convergence in specific sectors. In particular, significant progress was reported by the initiative on “Equipment used in environments with an explosive atmosphere”, where we have published a common regulatory framework based on IEC standards 
and on best practice in conformity assessmen t developed by the IECEX scheme for assessing 
conformity to standards.  
1.4.  A meeting of regulators in this sector, which is very important for safety as it is used in 
mines, in offshore oil rigs, as well as in many factories  and plants, will be held in Fortaleza, Brazil, 
in September 2013. Regulators – in particular from countries of the Latin American region - will present regulatory approaches in this sector, and will discuss how the UNECE proposed framework 
could be used to promote convergence. 
1.5.  The annual session also reviewed progre ss made by the group of experts on market 
surveillance authorities. Discussions focused on the UNECE database  – which contains data on market surveillance legislative mandates, authorities’ responsibilities and their contacts details in 
over forty countries - and on the “Glossary of Mark et Surveillance Terms” in English, Russian and 
French. Both tools are available on the website.  
1.6.  During the session the WP. 6 welcomed a new Chairperson, Mrs. Marion Stoldt, Head of 
Technical Cooperation of the German Federal Metrological Institute (PTB),  working alongside the 
Vice-Chairs: Minister Koreshkov, Minister of Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and Mr. Mihok, President of the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology and Testing, as 
well as with the outgoing Chair, Mr. Christer Ar vius, Advisor, Swedish National Board of Trade.  
 
 
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