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Twenty-seventh Session of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6)

Twenty-seventh Session of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6)

28 - 30 November 2017
Room VII, Palais des Nations Geneva Switzerland

Introduction and Timetable

The 27th Annual Session of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6) took place from 28 November 2017 to 30 November 2017.

It featured an international conference on "Standards for the SDGs". The conference discussed how standards support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development as a global undertaking. After a high-level panel, three SDSs were looked into more closely:

- Standards for SDG 5 - gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls,
- Standards for SDG 12 - sustainable consumption and production patterns, and
- Standards for SDG 14 – the sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.

The Annual Session of the Working Party reviewed the intersessional developments and proposed plans for future work. The items discussed included: risk management in regulatory system, international regulatory cooperation, standardization and regulatory policies, conformity assessment and accreditation, market surveillance, and capacity-building.

Main outcomes of the meeting:
Member States agreed to create an Advisory Board that will work with the Bureau to support and monitor the activities of the Working Party.
The Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies adopted the new Recommendation T on “Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Development” at its 27th Annual Session. Recommendation T provides guidance to member states on how to use risk management tools in regulatory frameworks to implement SDGs.
The Working Party launched a new initiative on cybersecurity which aims at addressing various risks posed to the cybersecurity environment, and focus on the aspect of conformity assessment.

28 (pm) - 29(am) November: Programme of the International Conference on "Standards for the SDGs"

29 (pm)-30 November: The timetable for the 27th Session of the Working Party 6

For further Information, please contact: 

Ms. Lorenza Jachia
Secretary to the WP.6
Tel.: + 41 22 917 55 93
Email: [email protected]

Standards for the SDGs

International Conference on Standards for the SDGs

TUESDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2017

15:00 -  15:15

OPENING  of the International Conference on “Standards for the SDGs”

Ms. Marion Stoldt, WP.6 Chairperson

Mr. Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva

Ms. Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary General, UNCTAD

15:15 - 17:00

High-Level Segment - International Conference on “Standards for the SDGs”

Moderator: Mr.Stephan Naundorf, Better Regulation Unit, Federal Chancellery, Germany

Mr. Bastian Buck, Director Standards, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

Ms. Karin Kreider, Executive Director, ISEAL Alliance (International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance)

Mr. Marco Lambertini, Director General, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Mr. Sergio Mujica, Secretary-General, International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Mr. Frans Vreeswijk, Secretary General, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

Questions and answer and discussion on way forward

17:00– 18:00

SESSION 1: Gender-responsive standards (SDG 5)

Ms. Lorenza Jachia, UNECE

Ms. Stephanie Eynon, BSI Group, United Kingdom

Ms. Tammy Hall, Head of Strategies and Standards, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining

Ms. Ziva Patir, CEO at PATIR CONSULTANTS, Israel

Questions and answer and discussion on way forward

Cocktail reception hosted by the WP.6 Secretariat

WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

10:10 -11:30

SESSION 2: Sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12)

Mr. Song Guojian, Director, Standardization Administration of China

Ms. Cristina Martinez de Silva, Senior Programme Manager, UNCTAD

Mr. Rakesh Vazirani, Director, Product Traceability & Environmental Information Management, TÜV Rheinland Group

Ms. Ran Wang, Research Institute of Global Value Chains, China

Ms. Barbara Bijelic,Legal Expert,Responsible Business Conduct Unit, OECD 

Questions and answer and discussion on way forward

11:30 – 12:30

SESSION 3: Managing risks for sustainable fisheries (SDG 14)

Mr. David Vivas Eugui, UNCTAD

Mr. David Agnew, Science and Standards Director, Marine Stewardship Council

Mr. Gianluigi Negroni, HCL Consultants

Mr. Simon Webb, Executive Director, The Nichols Group on behalf of Mr. Roland Cormier, Institute for Coastal Research, Germany

Ms. Maria Teresa Pisani, UN/CEFACT

Questions and answer and discussion on way forward

12:30- 13:00

How can the Working Party support the SDGs? Open discussion

Session Documents

Document Title
ENG
FRE
RUS
Item 1: Adoption of the agenda      
Annotated provisional agenda
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/1
PDF PDF PDF
Item 2: Election of Officers      
Item 3: International Conference on "Standards for the Sustainable Development Goals"      
From commitment to action: Standards at work for the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/3
PDF PDF PDF
The “Gender Informed Standards and Technical Regulations”
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/4
PDF PDF PDF
Report on the meeting of the GRM on “Risk management in regulatory frameworks in support of Sustainable Development Goals”
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/5
PDF PDF PDF
Item 4: Matters arising and Programme of Work      
(a) Report of the past session and intersessional developments      
Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its twenty-sixth session
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2016/2
PDF PDF PDF
(b) Reports by other United Nations Commission for Europe bodies of potential interest to the Working Party       
(c) Adoption of Working Party's work plan 2018 - 2019       
Programme of work of the trade subprogramme 2018 - 2019
ECE/CTCS/2017/10
PDF PDF PDF
Programme of work of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies for 2018-2019
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/6
PDF PDF PDF
Item 5: Risk management in regulatory systems      
Risk Management in Regulatory Frameworks
ECE/TRADE/390
PDF - PDF
(a) Report of Activities under the Group of Experts on Managing Risks in Regulatory Systems Group      
Progress report on the activities of the Group of Experts on Managing Risks in Regulatory Systems (GRM)
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/7
PDF PDF PDF
(b) Discussion on draft Recommendation T on "Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Development"      
Recommendation T on "Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Development"
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/8
PDF PDF PDF
Item 6: International regulatory cooperation      
(a) Regional developments      
(b) Sectoral projects      
Progress report on the activities of the sectoral initiative on Earth-Moving Machinery (EMM)
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/9
PDF PDF PDF
Progress report on the activities of the sectoral initiative on Equipment for Explosive Environments (SIEEE)
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/10
PDF PDF PDF
Progress report on the activities of the sectoral initiative on the Safety of Pipelines
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/11
PDF PDF PDF
Item 7: Review of recent developments in standardization      
(a) Review of developments in standardization      
(b) Education on standards-related issues       
Item 8: Review of recent developments in conformity assessment and accreditation      
Item 9: Market surveillance      
(a) Update from the Advisory Group on Market Surveillance      
Report on the Advisory Group on Market Surveillance, its activities and its meetings
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/12
PDF PDF PDF
(b) The Market Surveillance Model Initiative      
Market surveillance general concept and how it relates to the activities of the Working Party
ECE/TRADE/C/WP.6/2009/11
PDF PDF PDF
Draft guide to the use of the General Market Surveillance Model
ECE/TRADE/C/WP.6/2009/12
PDF - PDF
(c) Common definitions and terminology in market surveillance      
Glossary of Market Surveillance Terms
ECE/TRADE/389
PDF PDF PDF
(d) Update on the development of the Global Market Surveillance database      
Item 10: Metrology      
Item 11: Capacity-building      
Item 12: Other business      
Item 13: Adoption of the report      
Report on the Session
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2017/2
PDF PDF PDF

Session Agenda

WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017 afternoon session

15:00 – 15:10

Election of officers

15:10 – 16:00

SESSION 4: New direction of work for WP. 6

Discussion, with inputs from other UNECE bodies, and adoption of decisions

Ms. Lorenza Jachia, Secretary, WP.6

Mr. Mika Vepsäläinen, Secretary, UNECE Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and Standards

Ms. Liliana Annovazi-Jakab,  Secretary, Agricultural quality standards (WP.7)

Mr. Lance Thompson, UN/CEFACT

Mr. Oleg Dzioubinski, Sustainable Energy Division, UNECE

Materials

The System of Technical Regulation of the Republic of Belarus ENG    RUS

Regulatory and Procedures Barriers to Trade in selected UNECE countries 

 ACP-EU Technical Barriers to Trade Project

WWF and Iseal Alliance Report

Eurasian Eurasian Commission Library 

 Swedish National Board of Trade

Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative group

Comments from the Swedish delegation to Session documents