Asia Network Forum (http://www.theanf.org/index.asp) is an international forum conformity assessment bodies, which represents each Asian economy

Economy of Asia

The economy of Asia comprises more than 4 billion people living in 46 different states. Six further states lie partly in Asia, but are considered to belong to another region economically and politically...

, CQC (China), ETC (Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei is the designated name used by the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, to participate in some international organizations and almost all sporting events, such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games and Asian Para Games...

), JQA (Japan), KTL (Korea) and TUV-SUD-PSB (Singapore), has agreed to establish for promoting trades in the region and the coalition among members.

Current ANF Presidency and Staff Members

President : Mr. Wei CHEN (CQC)
Vice-president : Mr. Yoo-Jong LEE (KTL)
Secretary general : Mr. Jung-Sup KIM (KTL)
Chairmen
C1 : Mr. Tsutomu MATSUNO (JQA)
C2 : Ms. Chiew Wan TAN (PSB)
C3 : Mr. Yong-Deuk LEE (KTL)
C4 : Mr. Wei CHEN

Wei Chen (journalist)

Wei Chen is a television and radio journalist from Canada. She has worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and its main rival CTV. In 2003, Chen surprised many by leaving CTV, where she was a national correspondent, to work for a new local station called Toronto 1 , where she would host...

 (CQC)
C5 : Mr. Andrew LIN (ETC)
Treasurer : Ms. Susan CHOI

Susan Choi

Susan Choi is an American novelist. Choi was born in South Bend, Indiana to a Korean father and the American daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. When she was nine years old, her parents divorced. She and her mother moved to Houston, Texas. Choi earned a B.A. in Literature from Yale University ...

 (KTL)

Background

The harmonization of technical requirements of electrical/electronic products and its conformity assessment movement are getting more active worldwide in a borderless and global economy.

Responding to these developments, an Asia Network Forum (ANF) is established by CQC (China), ETC (Chinese-Taiwan), JQA (Japan), KTL (Korea) and TUV-SUD PSB (Singapore). The first meeting of the ANF took place in Tokyo, Japan on October 25 (Wed) and 26 (Thurs), 2000.

These organizations exchanged their opinions frankly during the first meeting and have reached the following conclusions.

Present Situation

In recent years, Asian economic power

Economic power

There is no agreed-upon definition of power in economics. At least five definitions of power have been used:*Purchasing power, i.e., the ability of any amount of money to buy goods and services. Those with more assets, or, more correctly, net worth, have more power of this sort...

 is getting stronger in the world. Asian economies have been playing the key role as a manufacturing base for supplying electrical/electronics products to world markets. Comparing to the Asian economic presence, the voice of Asian certification/testing organisations is still small at international meetings/conferences such as IEC/ISO/IECEE. Under this situation, the coalition of Asian certification/testing organizations representing each Asian economy is strongly desired by various sectors of each economy. This will facilitate trade in the Asian region and will eliminate repetitive testing and certifications.

Therefore, these organizations agreed to establish the Asia Network Forum (ANF) to promote the coalition of Asian certification/testing organizations which represents each Asian economy. The agreement among these organizations is as follows:

Objectives

1. To promote mutual understanding and friendship among Asian certification/ testing organizations.

2. To make mutual business development

Business development

A subset of the field of commerce, business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at:1. Researching new types of business/products/services with an emphasis on identifying gaps in the mitigation of needs of potential clients .2. Attracting new customers3...

 and promotion by introducing a common platform for each ANF member to serve industries in each economy.

3. To cooperate mutually for enhancing technical competence and capability of each organization.

4. To exchange the latest information on product safety and EMC regulations etc. in each economy for promoting mutually certification/testing services of each organization.

5. To reflect Asian opinions in international meetings such as IEC/ISO etc., after summarizing opinions of all member organizations before the meetings

Benefits for Industry

By achieving the objectives of the ANF, we aim to provide industry in the Asian economies with the following benefits:

- One stop testing and certification for Asian markets.

- Faster time to markets through better efficiency and cost.

- Quicker access to testing and certification information.

- Facilitate future cooperation with other regional testing and certification organizations

Phase I

- Mutual Recognition of Application Service:
The manufacturer who wishes to obtain certifications from Asian Network member bodies, will be able to make an "one-stop" application at one of the member bodies.
The body who receives such applications, will immediately notify other member body/ies concerned of such applications. The other body/ies who are notified, will give first priority in processing these applications after a formal application is made.

Phase II

- Mutual Recognition of Test Report:
Under phase II, member bodies of the ANF will recognise test reports issued by other member bodies with/without samples. The scope of recognition of test reports is wider than that of CB scheme.

Phase III

- Common Logo:
Under phase III, a common logo will be designed to give recognition to the alliance of Asian Testing and Certification Organizations, which will be providing better and more efficient product testing

Marketing research

Marketing research is "the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve...

and certification services to the industry. Manufacturers and/or clients may use this logo on their products.

The implementation of the above three phases may take place simultaneously.