DEMARCHE ON DRAFT ISO STANDARD ON SOCIAL

UNCLAS TOKYO 001484 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/TPP/MTA ASCHEIBE STATE PASS USTR FOR JDOHERTY STATE PASS DOC FOR HHIJIKATA AND JSTRADTMAN STATE PASS EPA FOR MMCKIEL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD WTRO ECON JA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON DRAFT ISO STANDARD ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REF: STATE 55239 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Officials at METI and MOFA welcomed U.S. comments and greater engagement on ISO efforts to draft social responsibility (SR) standards. The GOJ expects USG involvement will help both to improve the draft and to move the process forward. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Econoff delivered demarche points contained in ref on U.S. concerns with draft ISO 26000 standards May 23 to MOFA and May 28 to METI. MOFA Second North America Division Deputy Director Aya Yoshida expressed appreciation, but deferred to METI as the responsible Ministry. At METI, Econoff met with International Standards Policy Director Juichi Nagano, International Affairs Team for Standards and Conformance Policy Deputy Director Naotake Fujishiro, and Technical Regulations, Standards and Conformity Assessment Policy Unit Deputy Director Masa Sugano. ¶3. (SBU) The METI officials were well informed about the draft standards and Nagano advised he sits on the technical management board that created and oversees this ISO working group. He appreciated USG comments and interest in the process. According to Nagano, the initial idea of SR standards had originated in the U.S. over a desire by business to align differing requirements among U.S. states. He welcomed the USG's active involvement and hoped it would help move the work forward. Acknowledging concerns about the drafting process, he was optimistic the recently formed integrated drafting task force might play a constructive role and help address U.S. concerns. Noting the length of time the process has taken, Nagano said the strong stakeholder interest that has made it difficult to reach consensus also has been important in keeping the effort alive. ¶4. (SBU) On the USG's substantive concerns, Nagano welcomed the demarche points and strongly encouraged the U.S. to contribute actively to the ISO process to resolve outstanding issues. The GOJ has some similar concerns, he said, and detailed U.S. comments to the text will help improve the draft. Concerning international trade and the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT),Fujishiro suggested that SR standards differ from product standards and should not confer the same sort of obligations. He acknowledged, however, new ISO SR standards might make it more difficult later to challenge national requirements in the WTO that are portrayed as consistent with these international standards. ¶5. (SBU) Finally, Sugano shared a copy of a presentation on the Japanese Mirror Committee discussing social responsibility standardization and the process for coordinating with domestic stakeholders in Japan. METI expects the mirror committee to meet next month to review progress after the June 2 ISO drafting deadline. (Note: Embassy emailed a copy of the presentation to EAP/J and EEB/MTA. End note.) SCHIEFFER