The Establishment of a New Management Framework and System in the Gulf of Arabia

The Gulf area of Arabia includes 6 GCC member states: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, plus Yemen, a total of 7 countries.

These seven countries have a total population of about 80 million and a total GDP of about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars. In order to promote the free flow of trade and products while ensuring that only safe electrical products can enter the local market in order to protect consumer safety, the Gulf region has also established a regulatory framework and system similar to the EU and the European Economic Area. In contrast to Europe, the Gulf Regulatory Authority and the standardization body are the same organization, the GCC GSO, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Bay Area management framework includes:

(1)     Uniform standards and technical regulations;

(2)     Consistent law;

(3)     Gulf Metrology Network (GULF MET);

(4)     Laboratory Cooperation (GCCLAB);

(5)     Uniform accreditation body GCC Accreditation Center (GAC).

The EU's new legislative framework has been adopted as a benchmark for Gulf Accreditation programs, including a unified G-marking (similar to the EU's CE-Marking but with List 2 products being issued by a designated agency) and a unified market surveillance and product Responsibility management system.

Currently, the Gulf regional laws and regulations for toys and electrical products have been implemented. The next few years, the Gulf region will be targeted at cosmetics, machinery, elevators, energy efficiency, building materials and other regulations, but also for the control of hazardous substances in electrical products issued by the corresponding laws and regulations.