The platform went online during the meeting at 11.00 hrs, and may be accessed free of charge on www.eu-china-standards.eu.
The Europe-China Standards Information Platform was developed by SDA, a British company based in China. It was financed by the European Commission and actively supported by the European Standardisation Organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI (the ESOs) and the Standardisation Administration of China (SAC). The EFTA Secretariat participates in the Steering Committee for the project.
The main target group for the event was European industry associations, which were encouraged to distribute information about the platform to their members. The project partners received feedback as to which industry sectors should be prioritised with regard to future extensions of the platform, which presently include information in the fields of environmental protection, medical devices, electrical equipment, and machinery.
Tore Nyvold Thomassen, EFTA, welcomed the participants to the EFTA Secretariat in his opening statement.
The platform is designed to become an important tool to assist companies from China and Europe to obtain information on successfully entering their respective export markets, as well as to encourage engagement in dialogue on the development of standards. The platform includes information on Chinese national and industry standards, as well as on European standards. It also contains information on ongoing standardisation activities, the regulatory environment and related conformity assessment requirements, and includes manuals on access to the market in the different sectors. All information is provided in English and Chinese.
Norbert Anselmann (DG Enterprise and Industry), Gaston Michaud (Director-General of CEN) and Klaus Ziegler (Seconded European Standardisation Expert for China, SESEC) presented the background of the platform. Steven Chaytor and Ernest French (SDA) presented the platform, and the ESO’s External Relation Officer, Ivar Jachwitz from Standards Norway, presented the future of the platform. A Memorandum of Understanding between SAC, DG Enterprise and Industry, EFTA and the ESOs is being negotiated. The European Commission and EFTA intend to provide a significant action grant to the ESOs for the future maintenance and extension of the platform on the European side. CEN will be the European Project Manager (www.cen.eu).).
Presentations will be made available on the SDA homepage. A similar event will be held in Beijing on 4 November 2009.