The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an intergovernmental group of 21 member states with the purpose of “facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade, and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Goals of APEC include:
The 21 APEC members, which account for about 55% of world GDP are: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam. APEC operates on the basis of decisions reached by consensus, non-binding commitments, and has no treaty obligations for participants.
Three APEC programs with possible interest or involvement in regulatory science/policy are the Life Science Innovation Forum; the Chemical Dialogue; and the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology, and Innovation.
The Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF) is “APEC’s leading initiative on health and health sciences innovation.” LSIF activities have included “a series of regional seminars for government regulators on the issue of harmonisation of medical device regulation. The APEC Harmonization Center and LSIF Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee were created to facilitate harmonisation of regional regulatory priorities.
The Chemical Dialogue (CD) “serves as a forum for regulatory officials and industry representatives to find solutions to challenges facing the chemical industry and users of chemicals in the Asia-Pacific region….Issues addressed include chemical sector liberalisation, chemical trade facilitation, and capacity building. The CD also focuses on improving regulatory policies and practices…which ensure that regulatory, safety, and environmental goals can be implemented by both governments and business.”
The CD’s work program is “built around the three shared goals identified by the Strategic Framework for the CD: (1) Expanding and supporting cooperation and mutual recognition among chemical regulators in the Asia-Pacific Region; (2) Enhancing understanding of the chemical industry’s role as an innovative solutions industry; and (3) Encouraging chemical product stewardship, safe use, and sustainability.”
Some relevant activities of the CD include the following:
The Policy Partnership on Science, Technology, and Innovation (PPSTI) “supports the development of science and technology cooperation and effective innovation policy in APEC economies. It serves as APEC’s primary forum to engage government, private sector, and academia in joint scientific research.”
The PPSTI plans to organize Innovation Technology Dialogues “to explore and identify how emerging innovative technologies and related policies and instruments can address current challenges faced by APEC economies and what are the prospects for their application.”
Topics under consideration for the first PPSTI meeting of Chief Science Advisors from APEC countries to be held in early 2013 are:
Documents from past meetings of the above APEC programs can be obtained on their website.