Over the past ten years, U.S. exports to China have increased more than 300%, benefiting many industry sectors but also presenting new challenges relating to conformity assessment for products and services that are entering the Chinese market. In an effort to help tackle these concerns, the China Conformity Assessment Project (China CAP) held its first roundtable meeting on July 9, 2010, in Beijing.
China CAP is a project of the U.S. Department of Commerce, supported by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC). The initiative aims to facilitate a series of roundtable discussions with U.S. and Chinese industry, government, and conformity assessment practitioners to address concerns expressed by U.S. companies. [see related news item]
The first China CAP roundtable discussion was led by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA). The meeting brought together representatives of ANSI, USCBC, and several members of the U.S. business community, where they addressed various aspects of the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) program. Attendees discussed how to help companies obtain more reliable information and earlier warning about changes to CCC program, and how to help companies verify whether their products are subject to the program and/or whether exemptions or waivers are possible. CNCA also presented information about planned improvements to its website that will provide more information to companies in a centralized format.
A second roundtable discussion is being planned for late August 2010 in China. For more information, please contact Elise Owen, ANSI director of international development (202.331.3624; eowen@ansi.org).
