EABC Advocacy News

• Chair of EABC Automotive Working Group made a courtesy call on President of Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI) - 14 May 2014

Mr. Michael Grewe (Mercedes-Benz Thailand), the Chair of EABC Automotive Working Group, made a courtesy call on Mr. Vichai Jirathiyut, President of Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI), on 14 May 2014. Mr. Grewe expressed his appreciation for TAI’s continued support for the automotive industry in technical areas such as local content certification and homologation. Both sides also shared ideas on how the industry and TAI could further enhance their collaboration in order to strengthen TAI’s testing and research capability, which would also be beneficial to the industry. 

 

• EU survey on IPR enforcement and protection - Deadline 10 June 2014

The European Commission is currently conducting a broad IPR enforcement survey with the objective of assessing in a detailed manner the current situation in third countries and identifying the most problematic intellectual property areas and countries, as done every two years. Following similar exercises in the past, the European Union's Observatory on Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of the EU Commission DG Trade is now launching a survey to assess the situation regarding IPR enforcement in countries outside the European Union, including Thailand which is listed as a priority country since 2010.

The survey requires your assessments on the level of effectiveness of current IPR both in terms of protection and enforcement situation, the main strengths (and/or recent positive improvements) and weaknesses of the country concerned regarding IPR enforcement, among others.  In this respect, EABC would like to invite you to kindly contribute to this exercise by providing your assessment on the basis of the questionnaire which can be completed on line via the following link until 10 June 2014: https://www.tmdn.org/uss/index.php?sid=64891&lang=en
 
The information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. However, participants in this exercise are encouraged to send a copy of their contribution off-line to the Delegation of the European Union in Thailand via EABC by email to counsel@eabc-thailand.eu, with a view to assist the Delegation’s efforts in strengthening IPR protection in Thailand.

• EABC/JFCCT Conference "DIGITAL BROADCASTING and DIGITAL TV - a new era in high quality entertainment, information and learning" - 15 May 2014

The conference “Digital Broadcasting and Digital TV, a new era in high quality entertainment, information and learning” co-organized by EABC and JFCCT held on 15 May 2014 attracted more than 70 participants with interesting topics from both regulator and the industry. We welcomed various speakers including Ms. Madeleine Kihlberg (First Counsellor - EUD in Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, Myanmar) for welcoming remarks, Col. Dr. Natee Sukonrat (Vice Chairman - NBTC and Chairman Broadcasting Commission) on  “Digital Broadcasting – the regulator’s vision”, Mr. Allan T Rasmussen (Managing Director – Yozzo Ltd.) on “Digital Broadcasting and TV in a converged marketplace”, Mr. Sebastian-Justus Schmidt (Managing Director - CNX Creative/Part of SPBTV) on “Digital Broadcasting and TV – What we can hope to experience”, and Mr. Pana Janviroj (President – Multimedia Group) on “A Broadcaster’s perspective, vision and plans”. With Q&A sessions, the participants also had a chance to engage with the speakers and received clearer information on related topics.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to our event sponsor CNX Creative/Part of SPBTV and all speakers for their kind support and contribution towards the conference.

Full event summary, photos and related materials will be available soon.

*In the photos: Ms. Madeleine Kihlberg (above left), Co. Dr. Natee Sukonrat (above right), Mr. Sebastian-Justus Schmidt (bottom left), and Mr. Pana Janviroj (bottom right) 
 

Member News

• Koelnmesse: Special discounted price for EABC members at "2nd World Food Safety Conference", 22-23 May 2014

The World of Food Safety Conference is an unrivalled business platform where major players in the food industry, including food processors, distributors, retailers, foodservice operators, regulators and academia meet to exchange ideas and innovative solutions, and share best practices to achieve total food safety and drive consumer confidence globally.

In 2014, the conference aims to attract over 250 like-minded food safety professionals to learn from regional and international experts on how to harmonise food safety, quality and support for the upcoming integration of the ASEAN Economic Community. 

Mr.Patrick Deboyser, Minister-Counsellor (Health and Food Safety), Delegation of the European Union to Thailand, will also be one of the many internationally renowned speaks at the conference.

EABC members can register to the conference at special discounted price of USD699 (full price is USD899). To register please download the registration form [here] and send it to Jyothi Rajan at j.rajan@koelnmesse.com.sg or call +65 6500 6727.