Doha hosted the 41st meeting of the GCC Committee of Conformity Assessment (GCCA), an affiliate of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), with the participation of all Member Countries. The two-day meeting discussed the follow-up on the decisions of the 40th GCCA meeting and the decisions of the 57th meeting of the GSO Technical Council, which was held in late January in Doha.
The attendees also discussed a GSO presidency memorandum on Final Draft Standards (FDS) — the technical regulations for electromagnetic compatibility, Gulf technical regulation for prohibition of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and the GSO technical regulations project for machinery, safety components and lifting equipment, in preparation for submitting them for approval at the GCC level to achieve further safety for consumers and the environment.
Another GSO presidency memorandum on intra-regional trade obstacles was tackled. The meeting scrutinized a list of the top 100 traded commodities among the GCC countries, in a bid to remove technical obstacles to standardization and streamline trade exchange among member states.
Highlighting the GSO Member States reports on following up on the implementation of the approved Gulf technical regulations, the Committee agreed to hold the sixth Gulf Open Day for economic operators (manufacturers and traders) on May 14, 2024 in Dubai and to provide presentations on the Member Countries' legislative systems and mechanisms to achieve product safety.
The Conformity Assessment aims to enact rules and mechanisms that guarantee the liberalization of intra-trade between the member countries and the rest of the world, work to remove technical obstacles to trade, and ensure the provision of a high level consumer protection against multiple forms of product and commercial fraud.
