Standards and Conformance Infrastructure Review
Introduction
The Ministry is currently conducting a review of New Zealand's standards and conformance infrastructure (the infrastructure). The review is a response to rapid technological change and the development of a rules-based international trading system through the World Trade Organisation. Both of these developments increase the need for the standards and conformance infrastructure to be able to quickly adapt to a changing international trading environment.
Purpose of the Review
The purpose of the review is to:
- evaluate New Zealand's standards and conformance infrastructure against New Zealand's specific requirements and international trends and emerging new models;
- evaluate how the standards and conformance infrastructure can contribute to and improve the competitiveness of New Zealand suppliers of products and services, in the context of improved market access, innovation and quality; and
- identify any other issues that may need to be addressed in order to enhance the contributions made by the standards and conformance infrastructure towards achieving the government's objectives.
Structure of the Review
The review is being undertaken in three parts:
Parts One and Two
Part One of the review involved an assessment of the extent to which the current infrastructure is capable of supporting the government's broad objectives as outlined above. This involved a survey of relevant international literature examining the best practice in the design of a standards and conformance infrastructure.
Part Two of the review involved an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the infrastructure.
The Ministry outsourced the work in Parts One and Two of the review to an external consultant. The Ministry has prepared a summary of the consultant's report.
Part Three
Part Three of the review, which is currently underway, involves further research, investigation and analysis of some of the issues identified in Parts One and Two. As part of this, the discussion document Standards, Accreditation and Measurement: Supporting Our Economy was released on 8 August 2006. Submissions on this document were received and released on 24 January 2007.
Review of the Role of Standards Development and Standards and Conformance Infrastructure in Promoting Innovation in New Zealand
A separate review into the role of standards development and standards and conformance infrastructure in promoting innovation in New Zealand was also undertaken. The findings of this review have been incorporated into the broader review of the standards and conformance infrastructure.
Subsections
Back to Top