On June 12, 2015, China's State Council, the country's chief administrative authority, announced the establishment of the "Inter-ministerial Joint Conference System of the State Council for Coordinating and Promoting Standardization." The establishment of the Joint Conference comes in the context of a larger push to reform China's standardization system, which the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is closely monitoring.
According to the State Council, the Joint Conference will serve the following purpose:
To review major guidelines and polices that promote the development and reform of China's standardization system;
To resolve disputes related to the preparation and implementation of cross-sectoral standards, and
To determine which standards should be submitted to the State Council for final review and approval.
The Joint Conference will represent 39 ministries and units within the Chinese government. In terms of its leadership structure, the State Council will serve as Convener, while the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) will serve as Deputy Convener. The Standards Administration of China (SAC), which reports to AQSIQ, will undertake the daily work of the Joint Conference and serve in the Deputy Administrator role. The announcement lists the individuals from each of the identified departments that will participate as leaders and members of the Joint Conference.
The announcement is notable in several respects. First, the scope of the Joint Conference goes beyond the reform to cover a broader range of standardization-related matters. Second, participation in the Joint Conference is both high-level and wide-ranging, which suggests it could exert significant influence on matters within its domain. Additionally, the Joint Conference will not meet regularly, but only as relevant issues arise. There is no mention of what issue the Joint Conference will address first.
The establishment of the Joint Conference is one of six reforms outlined in a March 2015 State Council announcement on deepening the reform of China's standardization system [see related article]. ANSI is closely monitoring how this reform will affect its members. In addition to written analysis, ANSI's President and CEO Joe S. Bhatia addressed the reform with ANSI's partner organizations in China, including SAC, during a recent visit to Beijing [see related article].
ANSI has prepared a reference translation of the June 12 State Council announcement as a courtesy to ANSI members only. The English translation is available in the Member Library here.
Questions and comments on China's standardization reform can be directed to [email protected].