United States and Brazil Conformity Assessment Workshop

September 22-23, 2020 (half-day sessions)

Main Objective – Action Plan 2019-2020:  Exchange of information concerning U.S. and Brazil standards, conformity assessment and regulatory systems as well as experiences concerning the acceptance of conformity assessment results in each other’s markets.

 

Note: Times listed below are U.S. Eastern time/Brazil time

September 22, 2020

8:00/9:00 AM              Welcome

Lenilton Corrêa, Director, Conformity Assessment, National Institute of Metrology Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO)

Gordan Gillerman, Director, Standards Coordination Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

João Rossi, Deputy Undersecretary of International Negotiations, Ministry of Economy

Ian Saunders, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, International Trade Administration

 

8:20/9:20 AM              G2G Session Summary

Government participants give a short summary of the virtual G2G session and its outcomes and conclusions.

Juliana Ghizzi Pires, Ministry of Economy

 

8:30/9:30 AM              Panel 1: Accreditation Bodies and International Cooperation

Accreditation bodies from both countries will discuss their role working with government conformity assessment programs. Accreditation experts from Brazil and the United States will discuss the benefits of participating in international accreditation fora, including how these help facilitate trade between markets that use different conformity assessment approaches.

Moderator:  Ileana Martinez, Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) Council

Panelist 1 - Dana Leaman, National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), representing International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

Panelist 2 -Brahim Houla, Chair of the Communications and Marketing Committee, International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

Panelist 3 – Liliane Somma, Chair, InterAmerican Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC)

Panelist 4 - Reinaldo Figueiredo, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB)

Panelist 5 - Andrea Melo, Head of Division for the Development of Accreditation Programs, General Coordination for Accreditation, INMETRO

 

9:45/10:45 AM            Panel 2: Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and International Conformity Assessment Schemes Supporting Regulated Products

Conformity assessment bodies from both countries both global and smaller CABs will discuss working with government conformity assessment programs. Panelists will address their role in both pre- and post-market conformity assessment and how they support conformity assessment activities in different programs, including those that rely on SDOC, 3^rd party, and voluntary standards.

Moderator:  Maurício Péricles Pereira, Chief of the Division of Accreditation of Certification Bodies, Inmetro

Panelist 1 - Amaury Santos, Regional Director, International Electrotechnical Commission Latin America Regional Centre (IEC – LARC)

Panelist 2 – Steve Margis, Conformity Assessment Director, UL

Panelist 3 – Mike Violette, CEO, Washington Labs

Panelist 4 – Walter Laudisio, Brazilian Association of Conformity Asessment (ABRAC)

 

11:00 AM/12:00 PM   Conclude

 

September 23, 2020

8:00/9:00 AM              Round Table 1: Perspectives on Conformity Assessment

Experts will discuss CA requirements, benefits, and challenges in depth. Industry representatives will share their views on engaging with government conformity assessment programs and CABs in having their products and services tested or certified for the Brazilian and U.S. markets. Participants will address the challenges faced when working in markets with different conformity assessment systems and best practices for facilitating trade between such markets. 

Moderator: Renata Vasconcellos, Brazil-U.S. Business Council

Speaker 1 – Brian Krausz, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Speaker 2 - Danielle Assafin Vieira, Division of Verification and Technical-Scientific Studies, INMETRO

Speaker 3 - Paul Moliski, Intertek

Speaker 4 - Marcos Zevzikovas, Brazilian Association of Conformity Asessment, ABRAC

Speaker 5 - Elisabeth George, Head of Global Regulations & Standards, Philips

Speaker 6 - Theresa Flores, Mary Kay

Speaker 7 - Fábian Yaksic, Brazilian Association of the Electrical and Electronic Industry, (ABINEE)

Speaker 8 - Braskem (TBC)

 

10:00/11:00 AM          Presentation: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Market Surveillance Program Overview

The U.S. CPSC will provide a brief overview of their market surveillance program and best practices.

Arlene Flecha Castro, CPSC

 

10:10/11:10 AM          Round Table 2: Market Surveillance

Experts will discuss successful market surveillance programs, best practices for running and enforcing these programs, and industry representatives will share their experiences and potential effects on trade.

Moderator: José Pimenta, Amcham Brasil  

Speaker 1 - George Tannahill, U.S. Federal Communications Commission

Speaker 2 - Flávia Bartholomeu, Regulatory Affairs Senior Manager, Natura

Speaker 3 - Adriano Barros, Government Affairs Director, General Motors South America

Speaker 4 - Bob Pollock – Director, Market Surveillance, UL

Speaker 5 - Roberta Telles, TIC Council

Speaker 6 - Michael LaGiglia, AHRI

 

11:30 AM/12:30 PM   Concluding remarks

Greg Kalbaugh, Deputy Under Secretary for Policy, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Lucas Ferraz, Secretary of Foreign Trade, Brazilian Ministry of Economy

 

11:50 AM/12:50 PM   Conclude