Representatives of the Commission of the European Communities and representatives of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand held their first exploratory discussions on December 8, 1992 in Brussels, with a view to negotiating mutual recognition agreements on conformity assessment of products. This policy was first outlined by the Council of the European Communities in its resolution of December 1989 on a global approach to conformity assessment. It has been put into effect by the recent adoption of directives which enable the Commission of the European Communities to negotiate such agreements with third countries. The representatives believe that these agreements will be a new step to improve international trade in products which are subject to legislative requirements to protect health safety and other elements of consumer protection. Such agreements would allow manufacturers of the Parties to have their products assessed at home with respect to the other side's requirements and to have the assessment recognized by the other side. This will facilitate business in many industrial sectors, in which testing and certification requirements apply. The primary aim of this first meeting was to clarify a number of issues including the general parameters of the prospective negotiations, the sectors which might be the subject of prospective agreements, and the way that negotiations should proceed in the future. On this occasion, an extensive exchange of information on the respective systems of conformity assessment was initiated and a description of the integrated approach adopted by Australia and New Zealand was given. These are necessary prerequisites to the actual negotiations. * * *
