This paper is about trade issues in EastAsia. One of the most important non-tariff measures isregulations and standards aimed at securing the safety andor quality of products, labeling requirements and protectionof the environment. Standards are now recognized as a tradeissue since they determine market access. The use ofstandards by governments to meet public health and safetyobjectives and by the private sector to meet market-drivenconsumer and industrial objectives is important for economicdevelopment. Standards provide information on the qualityand reliability of a product that may not be readilyobservable and thus reduce uncertainty and contribute toincreased trade. Standards have become a key element infacilitating trade within and between countries since inorder for a good to be traded it must comply with the agreedstandard. This applies to both mandatory standards requiredby governments and voluntary standards set by industryassociations and other non-state actors. Recognizing thepotential of diverging national technical regulations tohinder trade flows, the Association of South-East AsianNations (ASEAN) has taken steps to eliminate such barriersin the sectors it considers important for economicintegration. The sector that will be the first to have afully harmonized regulatory regime across ASEAN countrieswill be cosmetics, starting in January 2008. The newregulation primarily involves broadly defined common safetyrequirements and a new approach to risk management, whichdoes away with the requirement of pre-market approval forcosmetics products and introduces instead a system ofpost-market surveillance. In doing so, the new directiveshifts to a great extent the responsibility of ensuringsafety from the government to the private sector.
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