ENG-1991 — Page 112

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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far accredited 38 laboratories in various fields of testing. A number of important mutual recognition agreements have been concluded with overseas laboratory accreditation schemes, including the National Measurement Accreditation Service of the United Kingdom, the National Association of Testing Authorities of Australia, and the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation. In 1991, an agreement was signed with the Testing Laboratory Registration Council of New Zealand. Under such agreements, Hong Kong products may not be required to undergo further testing in these countries if they have already been tested in Hong Kong.

Since March 1990, the department has been running a Quality Awareness Campaign, whose basic message, disseminated through quality management seminars and workshops, and through a range of promotional literature, is that investment in quality is profitable. The campaign is part of a wider quality improvement programme aimed at encouraging more manufacturers to adopt quality assurance in their companies. The other components of the programme include strengthening the department's existing range of quality services and developing a quality management certification scheme.

Under the certification scheme, government recognition is conferred on companies which adopt quality management systems conforming to the international standard ISO 9 000. An independent subvented organisation, the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, was established in 1990 to audit factories for the award of certificates.

The Governor's Award for Industry, established in 1989, rewards and recognises outstanding achievements in industrial competitiveness. Awards are made in four different categories, and different organisations are responsible for arranging annual competitions in each of these categories. The Federation of Hong Kong Industries is responsible for the consumer product design category; the Chinese Manufacturers' Association for machinery and equipment design; the Hong Kong Productivity Council for productivity, and the Industry Department for quality.

Hong Kong Productivity Council

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) was established by statute in 1967 to promote increased productivity of industry in Hong Kong. It is financed by an annual government subvention and by fees earned from its services. The council consists of a chairman and 22 members appointed by the Governor. Its membership is drawn from the management, labour, academic and professional fields and from appropriate government branches and departments.

The HKPC has about 500 staff members with expertise in a wide range of disciplines. It provides a variety of training programmes, industrial and management consultancies and technical support services, using resources available in its 11 operational divisions: Computer Services, Electronics Services, Engineering Services, Chemical and Metallurgy, Manufacturing Engineering, Textiles and Apparel, Industrial Consultancy, Training, Environmental Management, Information Services, and Development and Administration.

The HKPC moved to a new headquarters in Kowloon Tong in February 1991. The new HKPC building places all the HKPC's operations under a single roof and contains a display area, an auditorium, a technical reference library, electronics data processing facilities, a computer-aided design service centre, a surface mount technology laboratory, a radio frequency and digital communication laboratory, photo-chemical machining, metal