The Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) released a draft revision of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation for public comments. ANSI encourages members and other U.S. stakeholders to submit comments following the instructions on the CNCA website before the deadline of Wednesday, December 22, 2021, and share feedback to the ANSI China team at [email protected] in support of ANSI’s comments as a collective voice of the industry.
According to CNCA, the regulation is revised to enhance a more market-oriented approach and comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement, as well as with international standards and conformity assessment rules such as those of the International Organization for Standardization’s Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO). It also aims to improve a more unified administration mechanism among varied authorities in the conformity assessment system.
The latest revision follows the first revision in February 2016 and another in November 2020. Based on ANSI’s initial review, the 2021 draft revision would eliminate the special administrative measures posed on market access of foreign-funded certification bodies, as well as the provision on the designation of inspection institutions related to compulsory product certification. It also appears to provide more clarity for foreign certification bodies to conduct China Compulsory Certificate (CCC) certification services in China and to gain verification for their CCC products imported by China. These modifications reflect the requirements of improving market access and national treatment for foreign entities in line with China’s Foreign Investment Law.
On December 2, ANSI and CNCA hosted a virtual bilateral meeting, during which CNCA provided a presentation on the latest developments in conformity assessment in China. The CNCA officials elaborated on guiding principles and highlights of the draft revision and its potential impact on foreign companies providing certification and accreditation services in China. CNCA reiterated that they welcome comments and suggestions from ANSI members in order to improve this regulation and better accommodate private sector demands.
ANSI members can refer to the following documents for more information (all English translations are credited to ANSI and require member login):