Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States
to International Standards
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international standards such as those from ISO, IEC, and the Codex is a positive development. Assuming
progress can be made under the umbrella of regional approaches to improving quality infrastructure, it
will be possible for Senegal to lay the foundations for export competitiveness in key markets,
particularly the EU. Of course, private sector up take of standards is a key issue that needs further work:
spreading information not only on the existence of standards, but on their potentially beneficial effects
in terms of market access, will be an important priority going forward.
6.3 Non-OIC Member State Case Studies
6.3.1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The 21 member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) combines large and small economies at
different levels of development. It accounts for over half of world GDP, and covers about one-third of the
global population. APEC economies recognized early on that differing national standards and conformity
assessment procedures could hold back the trade and investment integration agenda. In 1994, member
economies decided to establish the Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC),17 a body in
which they can exchange views and develop common work programs in this important area. Alignment
with international standards is seen as one way in which APEC economies can facilitate trade, both
among themselves and more broadly with the full set of global trading partners.
Unlike many other regional integration platforms, APEC does not adopt binding agreements. Rather, its
approach can be thought of as “concerted unilateralism”: member economies agree on common regional
targets, typically broad in scope, to which they all then work towards with the exact measures left within
the discretion of governments. Although targets are increasingly quantified, progress is assessed on a
region-wide basis, not economy by economy in most cases. There are no consequences for failing to
meet a target as there is no dispute resolution mechanism in APEC. However, economies typically take
APEC targets seriously and make firm commitments to take concrete actions to work towards them,
based on a system of peer review and a common commitment to free and open trade and investment in
the region.
Another particular aspect of regional integration under the APEC aegis is the idea of “open regionalism”.
Traditional regional integration arrangements, such as free trade agreements, are “closed” in the sense
that they provide defined benefits to members, and exclude non-members. This approach can give rise
to concerns about trade diversion. APEC’s approach is different, in that members typically (although not
always) undertake reforms that benefit all trading partners, not just other APEC member economies. In
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