ASME's June Ling Testifies Before House Small Business Committee

ASME Codes & Standards was invited to testify on Nov. 1 before the House Small Business Committee on free trade agreements (FTAs), and the subsequent impact on small and medium-size enterprises.

June Ling testifying before the House Small Business Committee in November.

June Ling, associate executive director of ASME Codes & Standards, presented testimony on behalf of the Society to discuss how standards are considered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

"By providing a set of common criteria established and accepted by a broad base of knowledgeable and involved parties, a small business gains the benefit of being able to enter and compete in a market on the same basis as larger entities by following the publicly available and generally accepted rules of standards," Ling said.

"It is important that the U.S. remain vigilant to attempts to unduly disadvantage U.S. enterprises through restriction on use of U.S.-based international standards developed by U.S. domiciled standards developers," Ling continued. "We need to ensure that any text within the trade agreements which address international standards is inclusive of those standards utilized by U.S entities and government."

One way to achieve this goal, Ling said, would be to reference the principles of international standards development, which were established by the WTO TBT committee, rather than singling out an organization simply because of their national member body structure.

Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and Ranking Member Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, held the hearing one day after the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Peru Free Trade agreement by a unanimous vote. The Small Business Committee hearing focused specifically on the Peru agreement and upcoming trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. The Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador John Veroneau, also testified before the committee.

Velazquez said, "The agreements also impact smaller firms through their modification to non-tariff barriers. We can have trade agreements that open markets and also benefit our nation's small businesses. It is my hope that future agreements will accomplish this and incorporate the interests of these smaller firms more broadly."

To view the Small Business Committee's press release on the hearing, visit www.house.gov/smbiz/PressReleases/2007/
pr-11-01-07-fta.htm.

Ling's testimony from the hearing is available at www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/
PositionStatements.

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