Standards in Trade
Electrical Safety Systems for the Asia-Pacific Region
March 26-30, 2001
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In conjunction with several representatives of the private sector standardsand conformity assessment communities, NIST cosponsored a one-week workshop,entitled “Electrical Safety Systems in the Asia-Pacific Region: FacilitatingMarket Access,” during the week of March 26, 2001. A selected group ofexperts from the Asia-Pacific region discussed electrical safety systems forcommercial buildings, industrial plants, and homes with the goal of exploring possible joint projects to address common objectives for electricalsafety systems in the region. Twenty-one representatives from public and private sector organizations in Australia, Hong Kong China,Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan – as well as U.S. experts --participatedin the workshop. The non-NIST sponsors were the AmericanNational Standards Institute (ANSI) ; theInternational Code Council, Inc. (ICC) ; METLaboratories ; Intertek Testing Services(ITS) ; the National Electrical ManufacturersAssociation (NEMA) ; the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ; the NationalFire Protection Association International (NFPA) ; and UnderwritersLaboratories, Inc. (UL) ;
The five-day program addressed the developmentand implementation of the safety of electrical systems in the United Statesand other participating economies in the areas of: (1) the electrical installationcode, (2) electrical product standards, (3) product testing and certification,and (4) inspection and enforcement. Participants described their economy’spractices, including information on how their systems evolved. Additional topicswere ground fault circuit interrupters and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Agreement. Thedelegates also visited active construction sites, including a correctional facilityand a multi-family residential housing area.
The workshop concluded with action items to form anetwork to exchange information on definitions and common safety criteria; toidentify methods to move toward performance-based electrical codes; to exchangeinformation on inspections and penalties for non-compliance; and to hold similarmeetings in the future.
For more information, please contact Christine DeVaux at christine.devaux@nist.gov , tel. 301-975-4679, fax 301-963-2871. | 
