Apec identifies at-the-border import barriers to chemical trade

An Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) working group on regulatory convergence has identified what it sees as the main at-the-border barriers to chemical trade in the region and outlined ways it might tackle them.

In the final report of Apec's 20th Chemical Dialogue meeting in Papua New Guinea, the co-chair says the increasing number of such barriers has been having a tangible effect on the region's trade for some time.

The main factors identified at the February meeting, are contained in an as-yet unpublished draft summary. They include:

• inconsistent coordination between customs and the main chemical regulatory agency, for example, when allocating responsibility for assessment;
• inconsistent assessment requirements ranging from full inspections to importer self-declarations; and
• unique specific requirements for chemical imports.

 The working group draft action plan suggests:

• developing best practice principles for imports;
• identifying best practice case studies;
• surveying customs and regulatory officials on chemical import training; and
• looking at capacity building and training to promote best practice.

The conference also heard about updates to Apec's GHS clearinghouse website. This provides information on the requirements of the Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals.

The website has received 146,000 visits since its launch in 2010 to January this year.

Apec's 21 member economies are Australia; Brunei; Canada; Chile; China; Indonesia; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; the Russian Federation; South Korea; Singapore; Taiwan; Thailand; the US; and Vietnam.

Source: Chemical Watch