WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/275 
19 March 2007 
 (07-1141) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
 
 
 
THE REPORT ON RESULT OF STANDARDS ALIGNMENT WORK IN APEC 
 
Submission by Japan  
 
  The following communication, dated 14 March 2007, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Japan
. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTON 
1. This paper is submitted by Japan, as a lead member  in this area in APEC, to report on the 
results of the new voluntary alignment work initiated in 2006 in the APEC Sub-Committee on 
Standards and Conformance (hereafter APEC/SCSC).  
2. One of the objectives of the APEC/SCSC is to achieve alignment of member economies’ 
national standards with internationa l standards.  This would lead to the convergence of standards 
among member economies to facilitate trade flows.  Each APEC members has made its effort for 
alignment as one of the Voluntary Action Plans (hereafter VAP).  
3. In March 2006, Japan submitted a report on the co mprehensive review of alignment work for 
priority areas conducted from 2001 to 2005 to the WTO/TBT Committee (G/TBT/W/262).  This 
comprehensive review showed that the APEC/S CSC’s VAP alignment work for priority areas 
successfully promoted alignment of member ec onomies’ national standards with international 
standards. 
4. During the Policy Dialogue with ABAC (APEC  Business Advisory Council) held in 
September 2004, they expressed that alignment of national standards to international standards is 
valued by industry as one of the most effective measures for trade facilitation, while gaps between 
international standards and regulations of member economies had been recognized.  Additionally, it is 
also stated that Mutual Recognition Arrangements/ Agreements (MRAs) were viewed as an ideal 
approach, but such an approach w as not realistic from the perspectiv e of business.  The existence of 
possible MRA alternatives for trade facilitation such as IECEE CB Scheme is also mentioned. 
Considering these comments from industry, the new ar eas of VAP alignment work were agreed at the 
SCSC2 meeting in 2005 to cover IEC standards that were referenced under regulations of  two or more 
APEC member economies while excluding IEC standards that were already covered as priority VAP standards in the past activities. The number of ta rgeted standards amounted to 168 IEC standards. 
5. In the APEC Joint Ministerial Declaration in 2005, the APEC ministers instructed the launch 
of new voluntary alignment work on IEC standards,  especially for those that were covered under the 
IECEE CB scheme to be completed by 2010.  Calli ng into account the effectiveness of  IECEE CB 
scheme, this new VAP alignment survey, starte d in 2006, will contribute to WTO/TBT activities as 
one of the trade facilitation measures preceding in ternational standards(see Fig.6 for reference). G/TBT/W/275 
Page 2 
 
 
  II. ALIGNMENT RESULTS 
A.    2006  VAP  ALIGNMENT RESULTS  
6. Among 21 APEC member economies, 14 economies have submitted alignment reports as of 
2006.  The result shows that 9 economies out of 14 have achieved 100% alignment for the new target 
area (Fig.1). 
7. The numbers of standards and technical regul ations of each economy are shown in Fig.2. 
While Brunei Darussalam and Hong Kong China have  no domestic standards, their compliance with 
the new target area are deemed to satisfy the releva nt requirements of their laws/regulations.  Since 
electrical regulatory authorities exist separately in  each state or territory, Australia and the United 
States reported that no information on the number of  technical regulations is available (Fig.2). 
8. Australia, Hong Kong, China (Water Supplies Department), Indonesia, Malaysia, New 
Zealand and Thailand reported that some of their standards/technical regulations are under preparation 
and will refer to relevant IEC standards.  It was also reported that Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand 
and Philippines have some standards/technical regula tions that were aligned with old IEC standards 
and are under review for alignment with the later ve rsion of the corresponding IEC standards (Fig.3). 
9. The alignment degree of each economy’s domest ic standards/technical regulations as of  
1 January 2006 are shown in Fig.4. Some US standa rds defined as “Not Applicable” have justifiable 
reasons such as “due to the completely differe nt approaches to fusing,” while some member 
economies reported several NEQ standards/technical  regulations with no reasons identified.  
Alignment activities for such NEQ standards/technical  regulations and reviews for the alignment to 
the latest versions of corresponding IEC standards should be encouraged. 
10. The aligned or targeted versions of corresponding IEC standards of each economy are 
reported in the new VAP format (Fig.5). Each ec onomy’s reported formats have been uploaded on the 
APEC/AIMP web site, which is ID protected for APEC members. 
 
B. NEXT STEPS  
11. Based on the result that shows successful achieve ment by 9 member economies out of 14, it 
was agreed to conduct this new VAP activities every other year in the future (2008 & 2010) at the 
2006 SCSC2 meeting. 
12. The next report regardingVAP activity will be pr epared in 2008’s SCSC2, and the last report 
is planned to be publis hed in 2010’s SCSC2.  G/TBT/W/275 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
 
 
 
  
 
  Fig.1 : Result of alignment work as of 1 January 2006 targeted  168 IEC standards
0 50 100 
Australia  
Brunei Darussalam  
Chile  
Hong Kong, China  
Indonesia  
Japan  
Korea  
Malaysia  
New Zealand  
Philippines  
Singapore  
Chinese Taipei  
Thailand  
U.S. (%) 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
86 
  99 
100 
100 
100 
100 
54 
54 75 G/TBT/W/275 
Page 4 
 
 
  AustraliaBrunei DarussalamChileHong Kong, ChinaIndonesiaJapanKoreaMalaysiaNew ZealandPhilippinesSingaporeChinese TaipeiThailadU.S.020406080100120140160Fig.2 : Number of Domestic Standards
Technical Regulations 
Domest ic Standards
 
 
    020406080100120140160
Austra
liaBrun
ei Daruss
alamChileHong Kong, Chi
naIndonesi
aJapanKore
aMalaysi
aNew 
Zeal
andPhilippinesSingaporeChinese 
TaipeiThai
ladU.S.Fig.3 : Developm ent of D om esti c Standards
under
development
currently
implemented
under revi ew
process
   144 167 
66 
22 42 7679
56
22245050 G/TBT/W/275 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
020406080100120140160
Au
straliaBrunei DarussalamChil
eHon
g K
ong, 
ChinaIndo
nesiaJapanKoreaMalaysiaNew ZealandPh
ilippinesSinga
poreChine
se TaipeiThailadU.S.Fig.4 : A lignment Degree i n accordance wi th
the  IS O /IE C  G ui de 21
Not Applicable
NEQ
MOD
IDT
 
 
 
Fig.5 : New VAP format in 2006 
VAP Original Report for Alignment Work - Economy's Name
 *,**,&***(lower space)  Please use: IDT, MOD, NEQ (refer to Note 2)
 ***(upper space)  Please use: (1)Completed, (2)Not completed, or (3) Not applicable (refer to Note 3)
StandardTechnical
RegulationCommencement Completion
Cables and Cords Not applicable
              
Not applicable
MOD
Not completed              
Not applicableNEQTargeted Time-frame for Review
Remarks (reasons for NEQ upon
completion of review, e.g..)Degree of alignment ***
(as of 1st/Jan/06)Product SectorMember Economy
Reference International
StandardDegree of
correspondence
* prior to
reviewPlanned degree of
correspondence**
after review
Not exist Not exist 60227-1ed.1;am1
ed.2.2ed.2;am2ed.2;am1                                                          
MOD  
2006 2008 NEQ IDT                              
 
 G/TBT/W/275 
Page 6 
 
 
   
Fig.6 : For reference 
 
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