VZCZCXRO6519
OO RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1484 1510528
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 300528Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 3341
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4663
INFO RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 8078
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 6381
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 0461
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 1764
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8670
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