Assessment of Verification Testing Capacity in the APEC Region and Identification of Cost Effective Options for Collaboration

Compliance testing is one of the most fundamental components in a monitoring, verification, and enforcement (MV&E) framework because it verifies whether a product lives up to its energy efficiency claims. However, it is often one of the most challenging and resource-intensive to implement – especially for developing economies. 
As identified at the previous Compliance Workshop hosted in Beijing in June 2012, many APEC economies have limited resources and access to information required to establish successful market surveillance MV&E regimes. To address this common challenge, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Expert Group of Energy Efficiency & Conservation (APEC EGEE&C) – in collaboration with  S2E4 and many other partners – to conduct a comprehensive survey identifying qualified testing facilities and analyze cost-effective policy options for conducting compliance testing. 
The assessment surveys have identified some 250 qualified testing laboratories across 17 APEC economies. Economies with the largest manufacturing capacities, China and the USA, were found to have the most testing facilities. In smaller economies, there was insufficient testing capacity to support all of the appliance energy efficiency policies they had in place. To compensate for insufficient testing capacity, the assessment recommends that small economies leverage test facilities from neighboring economies. For example, due to Vietnam’s constrained laboratory capacity to test domestic refrigerators, a laboratory in Thailand has been officially designated by the Vietnamese authorities to certify this product category.
By providing effective solutions to address challenges currently faced by MV&E authorities, this project aims to deepen regional collaboration and information sharing among APEC economies, and to enhance their technical capacity. The report serves as useful resource for MV&E authorities to develop robust compliance testing programs with reduced costs.
The analysis is completed by S2E4 and is supported by APEC EGEE&C, the Australian Department of Industry, New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, CLASP, the Copper Alliance, and UL.