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Third Biennial Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit United States - China -European Union Joint Press Statement

JUNE 29, 2012

Mutual Interest

Consumer product safety is a matter of shared concern for the United States, China, and 

the European Union (hereinafter referred to as “Tripartite Participants”). Coordination 

and cooperation on consumer product safety issues by the Tripartite Participants is 

critical to effectively protecting their consumers.

Consumer product safety is a matter of shared concern for the United States, China, and the European Union (hereinafter referred to as “Tripartite Participants”). Coordination and cooperation on consumer product safety issues by the Tripartite Participants is critical to effectively protecting their consumers.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of the People’s Republic of China, and the Health and Consumers Directorate General of the European Commission (DG SANCO) and Enterprise and Industry Directorate General of the European Commission (DG ENTR) are relevant consumer product safety services of the United States, China, and the European Commission, respectively. They regularly engage in activities to strengthen theirtrilateral cooperation in the area of consumer product safety.

The Third Biennial High-Level Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit was held today in Bethesda, Maryland. Inez M. Tenenbaum, Chairman of the CPSC; Sun Dawei, Vice Minister of AQSIQ; and John Dalli, Member of the European Commission, reviewed the progress from previous cooperation. They exchanged opinions and information concerning seamless surveillance of consumer products, consumer product tracking and traceability, as well as consumer product safety information dissemination, and discussed further joint activities that could be undertaken to improve consumer product safety, including activities leading towards a seamless product safety surveillance system.

 

Points of Consensus

In a spirit of cooperation, openness, and respect, the Tripartite Participants share a common view as follows:

  • Enhanced international regulatory cooperation can improve the safety of products reaching our consumers, which is the mission of the Tripartite Participants. Our consumer product safety services should look for, and encourage, regulatory cooperation between one another within our respective competencies, as well as among standards setting organizations.
  • Promoting consumer product safety is the common objective of consumer product safety authorities worldwide. With the globalization of the consumer product supply chain, our product safety services should make best efforts to share port and market surveillance experience and data with one another to the extent permitted by ourrespective laws and competencies. 
  • Seamless surveillance is of great importance to enhancing international consumer product safety. To the extent permitted by our respective laws, we aim to deepen communication and interchange and make efforts to promote seamless  surveillance cooperation.

 

Specific Actions

The Tripartite Participants intend to undertake the following specific actions within the context of our overall cooperation framework:

  • lay out further steps we intend to take, resources permitted, contributing to the implementation ofthe above Points of Consensus;
  • outline specific steps required to move towards a "seamless surveillance" model of product safety enforcement involving cooperation between relevant product safety services;
  • continue research on relevant standards in the field of consumer products of shared concern by Tripartite Participants, exchange information on technical regulations and standards for these products and explore jointly the possible convergence of safety requirements;
  • continue to explore the possibilities of developing harmonized approaches for consumer product traceability systems against the backdrop of our respective regulatory systems;
  • engage other relevant product safety services in order to maximize opportunities for effective cooperation in the area; and
  • continue, as permitted by our respective laws, to improve information exchange between our administrations, to communicate major safety issues as early as possible,and continue education for industry stakeholders.

 

New Trilateral Meeting

The Tripartite Participants look forward to holding the next Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit in 2014 in the European Union, the date and location to be determined.

Category
International Activity
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