1.1 The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is reliant on harmonised standards. The harmonisation is undertaken to enable the removal of technical barriers to trade especially when these barriers arise due to differences in standards referenced in technical regulation and used for mandatory conformity assessment procedures.

1.2 The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint in Article 19, calls upon ASEAN Member States to “harmonise standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures through their alignment with international practices”. Chapter 7 of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) requires ASEAN Member States to harmonise their national standards with international standards as a means of removing unnecessary trade barriers.