Sino-German Cooperation on Risk Management and Recall Processes in the Automotive Industry

The Sino-German Sub-Working Group Automotive Safety (Project Line 2) on Risk Management and Recall Processes held a workshop with regulators from China’s State Administration of Market Regulations (SAMR) on 4 November 2019. Building on past regular technical exchanges and discussions, the workshop helped to advance ongoing topics and solidify shared interests between the German automotive industry and the Chinese regulatory authority.

The workshop was chaired by Mr. SUN Huichuan, Deputy Director General of Product Quality and Safety Department of SAMR, and Mr. Thomas Frisch, head of IVA5 within the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). During the workshop, Dr. XIAO Lingyun, Director of the Automotive Division of the Defective Product Administration Center (DPAC) under SAMR, introduced the latest developments in China’s automotive recall policies, regulations and standards.

A major focus throughout the workshop was put on new recall-related standards that are being developed by DPAC. A good outcome of the cooperation is that PL2 members have been involved in the process of drafting recall-related standards since September 2019, while in the past the German automotive industry could only participate at the stage of public commenting regarding the final draft of standards. PL2 members have so far signed up to contribute to 8 of the 13 standards that DPAC is currently developing.

As new technologies bring about subsequent new regulatory challenges, recall management on new automotive technologies such as Over-the-Air (OTA) updates and cyber-security defects also were included in the agenda of the PL2 workshops. While DPAC introduced the establishment of a filing platform for OTA updates and the drafting of relevant regulations and standards, the German automotive industry, represented by Dr. Kai-Niklas Krueger (Continental), also shared VDA’s making of standards for OTA recall processes. Both sides agreed to cooperate more regarding development and harmonisation of standards for new automotive technologies.

The highlight of the workshop was the discussion of China’s recall filing process. The issue was first brought up at a workshop in September 2019, where the industry presented four challenges faced by OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) when complying with the existing recall regulations. To advance the topic , PL2 members, led by Mr. ZHAO Xinghui and Mr. Roland Koch from Volkswagen Group, drafted a proposal to optimise the recall filing process. The proposal was well received and discussed in the workshop, and Mr. HOU Jiwei, head of Recall Management Division of Quality Development Department of SAMR, asked PL2 to provide a more detailed proposal for them to study. He offered that SAMR could start a pilot project with VW Group to try out the proposal, which could then be replicated in a wider scope and could potentially lead to the revision of the existing regulation. Mr. Frisch welcomed such positive feedback from the Chinese side and voiced support for further PL2 activities.

The overall goal of PL2 is to continuously improve automotive risk assessment and corresponding recall procedures. At the political level, BMWi from the German side and SAMR from the Chinese side are providing political support and steering to PL2. At the working level, four OEMs (Daimler, Audi, BMW, Porsche, VW) and four suppliers (Continental, Schaeffler, Bosch, Brose) who are VDA members are involved in technical dialogue with DPAC of SAMR. VDA QMC also plays a positive role in progressing the project line. The technical lead on the German side currently lies with Mr. Bernd Kraemer from Schaeffler.

The workshop was organised by GIZ –Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - under the framework of the Sino-German Working Group on  Product Safety. The next meeting of PL2 will be held in 2020. If you want to get in touch with us and know more about the project line, please contact Ms. TAO Mengying (mengying.tao@giz.de).