Sino-German Expert Workshop on the new EU Market Surveillance Directive in Beijing

On Monday, 14 October 2013, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMWi) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ) jointly organized a workshop on the new EU Market Surveillance and Product Safety Directive in Beijing. Apart from BMWi and AQSIQ, the Chinese Academy for Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ), the Research Centre for International Standardization and Technical Regulation of Inspection and Quarantine at AQSIQ, as well as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH participated in this workshop.

In his welcome speech, Mr Hao Yilei, Division Director in the Department for Supervision on Inspection of AQSIQ, informed the German participants about the latest developments in export surveillance in China as well as about the recent reform of the export inspection system. Subsequently, Mr Joachim Geiß, Deputy Division Director of the Division for Product and plant safety, technical harmonisation, market surveillance at BMWi, introduced the participants into the topic of the workshop with a presentation on the EU’s New Legal Framework, thereby exemplifying the conceptual background of the new regulation.

After an active discussion about the possibilities for an intensified integration of province and local authorities of both countries into the prospective cooperation, the participants were informed by Mr Geiß about the recently published and currently in Europe negotiated new Market Surveillance and Product Safety Regulations in Europe. Among other things, he informed the Chinese participants about the recently reached agreement on the Alignment Package of different product specific guidelines, which lays important groundwork for the new directive.

This second speech of Mr Geiß was again followed by interested inquiries of the Chinese experts and an active discussion about further possibilities to deepen the Sino-German cooperation on market surveillance. Both sides agreed to increase their information exchange and to implement further project activities regarding the reforms in both countries in the near future.