The 53rd Meeting of the ACCSQ Working Group on Standards (WG 1) and 44th Meeting of the ACCSQ Working Group on Conformity Assessment (WG 2)
Post date: Wednesday, Jun 4, 2025 | 15:38 - View count: 106
From May 26 to 30, 2025, representatives of Commission for the Standards, Metrology and Quality of Viet Nam attended the 53rd ACCSQ/WG1 and 44th ACCSQ/WG2 Annual Meetings in Singapore. The meetings were attended by representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat, representatives from standards, accreditation and conformity assessment bodies of the ASEAN member countries, representatives of Timor-Leste as observers and representatives of Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). These are important events, contributing to the efforts to harmonize standards, promote accreditation and conformity assessment activities, thereby reducing technical barriers and facilitating trade.
Delegate attending ACCSQ/WG1
The 53rd ACCSQ/WG1 meeting, chaired by Chairman Phouthasak Baochanh from Lao PDR, the working group updated the status of harmonization of standards in various areas such as electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), medical devices, rubber-based products, wood-based products, cosmetics, conformity assessment (CASCO/GHG) standards, building and construction, smart cities and digital trade. At the same time, new areas for harmonization of standards are considered such as Energy Efficiency (EEf), Renewable Energy (RE) and Smart Manufacturing (including IR 4.0). The Working Group discussed the development of its Sub-Sectoral Work Plan 2026-2030 and also discussed the ASEAN Foresight Framework Policy Paper, identifying three broad areas: Energy, Digitalization and Sustainability – that will serve as a guide for WG1 in relation to its future work. WG1 discussed technical assistance and capacity-building programmes of international partners. Discussions under this item included updates on projects with PTB and interactions with ITC/EU regarding the SCOPE project and socialisation of Harmonisation Guidelines. Additionally, cooperation with JISC on potential workshops and with ISO/IEC on initiatives like a Smart Manufacturing Webinar.
Delegate attending ACCSQ/WG2
The 44th ACCSQ/WG2 meeting chaired by the Chairman Roslan Alias from Malaysia, discussed the progress of harmonization of conformity assessment standards submitted to WG1, noting that out of 32 CASCO standards submitted to WG1 for harmonization, 23 standards have been harmonized and 9 standards have been partially harmonized. For the 6 GHG standards, 2 standards have been harmonized and the remaining 4 standards are declared as partially harmonized. WG2 also continued to identify other relevant conformity assessment standards for future harmonization. The meeting continued to discuss enhancing the competence of Accreditation Bodies (ABs) of ASEAN member states and promoting recognition and acceptance of accredited conformity assessment results by national regulatory authorities. The development of the WG2 Work Plan for the period 2026-2030 was discussed. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled to be hosted by the Philippines in May 2026.
A notable point at this year’s meeting was the first joint session between ACCSQ/WG1 and ACCSQ/WG2. The session shared information and exchanged views on common challenges and opportunities. Focusing on key areas such as green economy and digital economy, especially topics such as net zero and GHG emission, power grid and renewable energy certificates, sustainable growth through green data centres, and cybersecurity. The two working groups agreed that the joint meeting was timely and reinforced the need for closer regional cooperation, establishing common positions and adopting a collective approach to address the changing global situation, tackle challenges, and capitalise on new opportunities. The WGs underscored that the role of standards, accreditation, and conformity assessment is becoming increasingly crucial in ensuring a robust, consistent, and fair rule-based quality system, which forms the foundation for enabling trade and cooperation.
Attending the ACCSQ/WG1 and ACCSQ/WG2 Meetings is an opportunity for the STAMEQ’s delegation to affirm its active role in the regional integration process concerning standards, accreditation and conformity assessment and demonstrates Vietnam’s commitment to efforts in building National Quality Infrastructure (NQI), ecognizing standards, metrology, conformity assessment, and accreditation as its three important pillars. This contributes to the harmonization of quality infrastructure in ASEAN, thereby facilitating free trade among member countries.
