Test

Test Question

Question 1

What are the goals of the International Year of Water Cooperation?

Answer :

The International Year and the World Water Day 2013 aim to encourage and nurture water cooperation to:

• Raise awareness on the importance, benefits and challenges of water cooperation;
• Enhance knowledge and develop capacity for water cooperation;
• Spark concrete and innovative action towards water cooperation;
• Foster partnerships, dialogue and cooperation around water as a top priority, during and beyond 2013;
• Strengthen international cooperation among institutions, users, social and economic sectors and others in order to reach a consensus on Sustainable Development Goals for the post-2015 era which will effectively address our future water needs.

Question 2

Why is water cooperation important?

Answer :

Water cooperation is essential to share water equitably, thereby fostering peace and sustainable development.

• Water cooperation builds peace

Access to water can be a source of a conflict, but it is also a catalyst for cooperation and peace building. Cooperation on such a practical and vital issue as water management can help overcome cultural, political and social tensions, and can build trust between different groups, communities, regions or states.

• Water cooperation is key to security, poverty eradication, social equity and gender equality

Access to clean water is the foundation for the fulfillment of basic human needs and contributes to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals. Inclusive and participatory governance of water and cooperation between different user groups can help to overcome inequity in access to water, enhance water security and overcome water scarcity and thus contribute to poverty eradication and to improving living conditions and educational opportunities, especially for women and children.

• Water cooperation creates economic benefits

All economic activities depend on water. Cooperation can lead to a more efficient and sustainable use of water resources, including through joint management plans creating mutual benefits and better living standards.

• Water cooperation is crucial to preserve water resources and protect the environment

Question 3

What is happening this week in Shanghai in relation to international co-operation on consumer product safety?

Answer :

EU Health and Consumer Commissioner, John Dalli, puts consumer issues in the spotlight this week when he addresses the Consumer and Product Safety Day during the Shanghai World Expo. He will also meet with U.S. and Chinese counterparts at the second China-EU-U.S. High level Trilateral Summit on consumer product safety. Both events focus on developing a modern consumer policy and in particular stronger governance on product safety in today's global market.

The Consumer Day will include representatives from the EU institutions, consumer organizations, the European business sector and a senior representative from China's State Food and Drug Administration. The aim is to explore new opportunities to strengthen working partnerships under the theme 'better cities – better lives'.

The Trilateral Summit on product safety brings Mr Dalli together with his product safety counterparts Mr. Zhi Shuping, Minister of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and Mrs. Inez Moore Tenenbaum, Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This trilateral co-operation reflects the determination of all sides to keep product safety at the top of the international political agenda, recognizing that open markets can only be built on strong and secure management of global product supply chains.

Question 4

Why is the consumer element so important?

Answer :

The Consumer Day offers an excellent opportunity for exchanges between all the main players involved in product safety on the nature of the European regime to protect consumers. Ensuring consumers' safety is one of the collective challenges of globalization that jurisdictions can only confront by working in international partnership. It is important to keep up the political momentum to insist that standards are high and enforced at every step along the global supply chain from factory to front door. The Consumer Day will also allow participants to get a deeper understanding of the issues at stake in consumer product safety in the EU, and to develop ideas on how to deepen co-operation to ensure product safety all along the supply chain.

Question 5

What are the objectives of trilateral co-operation at this point in time?

Answer :

Joint action by the largest markets in the world in terms of production and sale of consumer products is unique and vital. Much has been achieved through the trilateral process, in terms of outreach to manufacturers and understanding by all three authorities of the importance of product safety. And so the time is right to intensify the work. This would involve for example to reinforce bilateral co-operation mechanisms; to develop a 'seamless surveillance' model of checks on traded goods with export and import authorities working jointly with product safety officials; and taking action to deliver policy advice to economic operators to improve their level of awareness of safety requirements.