In an effort to support the activities of the countries in the region, as well as to provide increased opportunities for networking, information sharing and capacity building in the area of sustainable consumption and production, a regional Help Desk on Sustainable Consumption and Production in Asia and the Pacific. Hosted by the China Standard Certification Centre (CSC) was jointly launched by UNEP and UNESCAP in May 2006 following requests from the member states.

The CSC is a non-profit, independent third-party certification body, which provides consulting services for policy making and is acting as an information center for consumers. The Center was established in 1998 by the National Development and Reform Commission of China with the objective to serve as the primary certification centre for Energy Conservation Products.

The CSC is an internationally recognized organization for energy efficiency and environmental protection and has worked on various projects with UNDP, UNDESA, IEA, IFC, US EPA, AGO, etc. CSC is involved in the process of international harmonization on energy efficiency standards and labels and provides assistance to the NDRC for the development of evaluation indicators and methods for the establishment of a resource-saving society. Additionally, CSC is developing an information sharing system for product quality and performance comparison.

CSC has extensive experience in organizing various national and international meetings and events related to sustainable consumption and production. Among these are annual exhibitions for energy-efficiency, water conservation and environmental-friendly products, TV and Radio shows, promotion activities with enterprises, including CSC website in English (www.cecp.org.cn).

The overall scope of the activities of the Regional SCP Help Desk is to assist governments in Asia and the Pacific to design and implement programmes and policies on SCP. In the long run the regional help desk is expected to cover following areas of work:

	Collect and disseminate information on SCP with specific focus on policy tools, including conducing regional surveys.
	Facilitate networks of experts and institutions in the region that are specialized in SCP related issues.
	Organize training for policy makers and professionals.
	Conduct studies to support decision making by governments and regional, international organizations.
	Assist UNEP and ESCAP to develop projects and fund raise for the development of help desk.