Standards and Accreditation Bill introduced

Commerce Minister Craig Foss today welcomed the introduction of a Bill to strengthen the development and delivery of New Zealand Standards.

“The Standards and Accreditation Bill is part of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda and follows a comprehensive review to ensure our Standards system is independent and sustainable,” Mr Foss says.

“Standards play a key role in sectors such as construction and energy safety. They create confidence in products and underpin health and safety and environmental management.”

Key aspects of the Bill include:

• Establishing a new independent statutory board to approve New Zealand Standards.
• Ensuring independent Standards development committees will continue to comprise industry and technical experts, consumer representatives and regulators.
• Establishing a new independent statutory officer within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to oversee the development of Standards.
• Amending the Copyright Act to preserve existing intellectual property in Standards.

“This Bill will better align Standards development with important Government priorities such as innovation and trade facilitation,” Mr Foss says.

“It will also make minor changes to arrangements for the Testing Laboratory Registration Council, including amending the Council’s appointment process and updating the description of its activities to better reflect its valuable accreditation work.”

Testing in a laboratory accredited by the Testing Laboratory Registration Council is now a requirement for over $20 billion of New Zealand exports.

Standards New Zealand and the Standards Council will continue to provide support for Standards development and approval while the Bill progresses through Parliament.

For more information visit http://www.med.govt.nz/business/standards-conformance/standards-and-conformance-infrastructure-review