China plans to unify domestic and international standards for imports and exports and put an end to charges of erratic quality within three to five years.
By 2005, China would have adopted some 90 percent of international standards, Deng Ruide, director of the planning division of the State Administration for Standardization, said Thursday.
That means, except for some 2,000 items assessed as not suitable for China, all the 17,000 international standards in effect would be adopted, either for the first time or to replace obsolete Chinese codes.
The endeavor will help China fulfill its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that all standards it implements should comply with international conventions by 2006, the end year of the transition period.
Analysts believe that such an internationally accepted code system would turn out to be a double-edge sword for China.
It will help prevent imports of inferior goods from entering the country, but could cause exports to slump as well because standards of Chinese-made commodities for the domestic market are relatively low in general.
For decades, China has tolerated two sets of standards for imports and exports.
This year, the administration will organize ministries, institutes and enterprises involved in standards drafting to focus on standards concerning security, hygiene and environmental protection, Deng said.
Locally made standards are crude compared with advanced or sophisticated international norms, of which half were made by the United States and the European Union.
Through years of effort, China has adopted some 7,000 international norms.
For the first time, the term of a State standard has been limited to no more than five years. Within the term, norms should be assessed to see if they conform to similar international ones. Obsolete ones will be abandoned.
Validity of standards in the country used to last for a decade or even longer.
In the near future, the country will routinely renew and update standards in place so that they conform to international rules, Deng said.
To suit the WTO accession, concerned government departments have coordinated for the rectification of 2,600 categories of State norms.
China claims that international norms already make up 90 percent of standards in its shipbuilding and medical equipment production and trade.
The percentage in electronics, petrochemicals, metallurgy and household appliances fields is 60 percent or above.
(China Daily HK Edition May 10, 2002)
