Standards and Conformance
The 8th Conference on Standards and Conformance for Green Harmonization was held in Sendai, Japan in September 2010. Sessions included experience sharing by participating economies who reported on their energy efficiency systems. The conference also included presentations from private sector and international organization representatives including the OECD. This highlighted the importance of greater collaboration. Improving transparency for energy efficiency standards and enhancing on policy formulation and testing were discussed as means to address technical barriers to trade. It was agreed that energy performance testing standards should be better aligned and the product performance test method should reflect actual energy consumption.The 9th Conference on Standards and Conformance in the field of innovations and related good practices will be held in Kazan in 2012.

Food Safety
The SCSC established the APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) in 2007, recognising that food safety and internationally harmonised food standards are key factors for improving public health and safety and for facilitating trade in food for APEC economies. The purpose of the Forum is to improve and strengthen information sharing and capacity building activities in food safety and to identify, prioritise and coordinate capacity-building activities within APEC. The SCSC endorsed the Implementation Plan for Strengthening Food Safety Standards Practices in APEC Economies for 2008-2011 in February 2008. The FSCF in 2011 and the APEC FSCF Workshop and Food Safety Incident Management Seminar were held in Montana, the USA in May 2011.

The workshop on FSCF PTIN Laboratory Capacity Building was held in Bangkok Thailand in August 2011. Strengthening laboratory systems is one of the priority work areas of the Food Safety Cooperation Forum, and one where PTIN work under the SCSC can yield positive outcomes in facilitating trade. The workshop had a number of objectives including highlighting the global context of food safety; explaining the importance of food safety laboratory competency and the complexities involved in meeting diverse food safety standards.

The Laboratory Capacity Building for the Determination of Toxic Contaminants in Seafood was held in Nonthaburi, Thailand in September 2011. This Workshop supported the development of laboratory capacity within APEC economies to measure heavy metals in seafood for domestic consumption and for export purposes.

The APEC Scientific Workshop on Food Safety Risk-Benefit Analysis was held in Manila, the Philippines in November 2011. The Workshop aimed to have an open debate on scientific approaches and methods available and tools and data needed for conducting a risk-benefit analysis of foods and food components and assessed the experience of each member economy in policy approaches to this novel approach to food safety assessment.

A Wine Regulatory Forum (WRF) was also established in February 2008. The role of the WRF is to examine options to simplify and harmonise wine regulation across the APEC region. A workshop on Wine Regulatory Forum was held in San Francisco in September 2011. Trade in wine among APEC economies more than doubled, from US$7 to US$18, over the last 10 years, with significant new production from Asian economies. The outcomes addresses costly and burdensome testing and certification requirements across the region, consistent with obligations under the TBT and SPS Agreements.

Regulatory Practices
The 6th Conference on Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) was held in Washington, DC in March 2011. Member economies discussed developing practical guidance on how to choose and design efficient and effective mechanisms to strengthen the implementation of the WTO TBT Agreement. The conference also served to strengthen the technical understanding and implementation of good regulatory practices in APEC economies by engaging regulators and stakeholders in discussions on how to best promote transparency and cooperation in rulemaking.

Product-related environmental standards
A workshop on Sustainability in Building Construction (Commercial Buildings) — Efficiency and Conservation was held in Washington DC in March 2011. A survey on sustainability in building constructions was shared. It found that greater coherence is needed for terminology used within APEC economies. The workshop also included presentations from government officials and private sector representatives on the role of standards in sustainable buildings.

The Solar Initiative encompasses three activities: a survey of APEC member economies on three categories of solar technologies (PV cells, solar water heaters, concentrated solar power); a Conference on Trade Impacts of Solar Technologies Standards and Conformity Assessment Measures was held in San Francisco in September 2011 and a Conference on PV Reliability and Durability was held in Chinese Taipei in October 2011.

The Conference on Implementation of Energy Management Systems Standards was held September 2011. This was led by the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC), and sought to promote the use of energy efficiency and conservation management systems by government and private sector entities that are supported by credible and competent certification systems throughout the region.

The Seminar on Aligning Energy Efficiency Regulations for ICT Products was held in San Francisco in September 2011. The Seminar explored opportunities for convergence of energy efficiency regulations for information and communication technology (ICT) products across APEC economies. The goal of converging energy efficiency regulations is to avoid fragmentation of the regulatory landscape, minimize trade barriers for ICT products, and promote trade of ICT products, enabling economies to reap energy efficiency gains in other sectors through the deployment of these technologies.

Pathfinder Initiatives
The Joint Advisory Committee for the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on Conformity Assessment for Electrical and Electronic Equipment has been renamed the Joint Regulatory Advisory Committee (JRAC) on Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) and revised terms of reference have been agreed. The first annual JRAC meeting was held in May 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. The second JRAC meeting was held in May 2011 in Chicago, the United States.

Trade Facilitation
The SCSC has completed its report on the implementation of APEC's first Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP1). The report finds that the SCSC contributed to the TFAP1 by helping reduce business transaction costs in four main areas: standards alignment; recognition of conformity assessment in regulated and voluntary sectors; development of technical infrastructure; and transparency of standards and conformity assessment in APEC economies. Seminar and training courses in Legal Metrology to promote technical trade facilitation has also been conducted. A training course on gas meters was held on 13-16 April 2010 in Chongqing, China.

Supporting SMEs
A "Seminar on Export Technical Assistance Models" was held in March 2010 in Hiroshima, Japan. The objectives of the seminar were to improve APEC SMEs' access to information on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs); to identify best practice models for potential adoption; and to potentially develop an APEC network for cooperation and information sharing. At the seminar a consultant presented the findings of a study and economies were actively engaged in exchanging information. Key outcomes of the seminar include a comprehensive overview of the models within APEC economies to deliver information on TBTs to SMEs to facilitate exports and numerous good practices were identified and shared among participants.

Standards and Conformance Education
The five-year Standards and Conformance Education Initiative has been directed from 2007 to 2011. The Phase III has resulted in a trial program for higher education and the consolidation of a Casebook from fourteen universities. The five year project has encompassed four publications, seven meetings/workshops, the development and maintenance of an information portal on standards education. These activities have resulted in heightened visibility for standards education in the APEC region.

Specialist Regional Bodies
Cooperation with other regional organisations that work in the areas of standards and conformance will be strengthened by implementing the Specialist Regional Bodies Strategic Plan.