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Agenda for the OECD Roundtable on Consumer Product Safety

23 October 2008

Opening remarks

Michael Jenkin, Chair of the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy (CCP)

Session I: The international consumer product safety policy and enforcement environment: issues and challenges

What is the magnitude and scope of the problem?

• Summary of the analytical report on consumer product safety
  David Martine, General Manager, Competition and Consumer Policy Division, Australian Treasury

What are the recent developments and trends in domestic and cross-border consumer product safety policy and enforcement regimes?

Moderated by Robin Simpson, Senior Policy adviser, Consumers International

• Intergovernmental co-operation: Sharing experiences and developing best practices: What have we achieved? What more is needed?
  Dirk Meijer, Chairman, International Consumer Product Safety Caucus (ICPSC)
• Product safety standards: What issues need to be addressed in the development and application of standards in cross-border contexts? What role should stakeholders play?
  Elisabeth Nielsen, Convenor of the Working Group on Consumer Product Safety, International Standards Organisation Committee on Consumer Policy (ISO COPOLCO) 
• Role of industry: What role can industry play in supporting market surveillance, developing standards, providing technical assistance and educating consumers and other stakeholders?
  Philippe Portalier, Senior Adviser, European Engineering Industries Association - Orgalime

Discussion among roundtable participants

Conclusions by moderator

Session II: Policy frameworks for addressing consumer product safety issues

Moderated by Stefano Soro, Head of the Product and Service Safety Unit, Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, European Commission

What sorts of domestic and cross-border policy frameworks are in place for addressing consumer product safety? What role is industry self-regulation playing? 

• Policy responses in the United States
  Richard O'Brien, Director, Office of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (More information on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, as discussed by Richard O'Brien can be found at: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html)
• Enforcement issues in Australia and New Zealand
  Peter Kell, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
  Elizabeth MacPherson, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and General Manager, Consumer Affairs (New Zealand)
• Industry initiatives in North America
  Carter Keithley, President, Toy Industry Association
  Lane Hallenbeck, Vice President, American National Standards Institute

Discussion among roundtable participants

Conclusions by moderator

Session III: Issues in consumer product safety enforcement

Moderated by David Martine, General Manager, Competition and Consumer Policy Division, Australian Treasury 

How effective is enforcement within countries and across borders? What issues need to be addressed?

• Issues and approaches used in the EU RAPEX system
  Annukka Ojala, Policy Coordinator, Product and Service Safety Unit, Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, European Commission 
• Controlling the quality of exported products in China
  Wang Xin, Director General of the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China
• Enforcement issues in Israel
  Grisha Deitch, Commissioner of Standardization and Technical Director of INPL, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, Israel 

Discussion among roundtable participants

Conclusions by moderator

Session IV: Next steps

Moderated by Bruce Farquhar, Chair of the International Caucus of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO)/ EMARS Project Coordinator

Summary of key points from the roundtable

Bruce Farquhar, Chair of the International Caucus of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO)/EMARS Project Coordinator

 

What is the scope of future work on product safety issues? What role could the OECD play? Views of stakeholders - Brief presentations by government, business and consumer groups 

• Government perspective
  Richard O'Brien Director, Office of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs, US Consumer Product Safety Commission  
• Business perspective
  Annette Dragsdahl, Senior Adviser, Confederation of Danish Industry 
• Consumer perspective
  Eric Briat, Director General, Institut National de la Consommation, France

Discussion among roundtable participants

Concluding remarks

Michael Jenkin, OECD CCP Chair