GSO REPORT ON SPS ACTIVITIES
GSO REPORT TO THE WTO COMMITTEE ON SANITARY AND
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
The following communication,
received on 17 October 2025, is being circulated at the request of the secretariat
of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO).
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. GCC Standardization Organization
(GSO) is a non-profit (intergovernmental) Standardization Organization,
established by the resolution of the GCC
Supreme Council (22nd Session, Muscat, Oman, 30‑31 December
2001) and became operational in May 2004, whose membership consists of the
governments of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, which joined GSO in January 2010.
2 GSO MISSION
2.1. The GSO mission is to assist the States of the
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) to achieve the
objectives set forth in its Charter and in the GCC Economic Agreement by
unifying the various standardization activities and following up on implementation
and compliance matters in cooperation and coordination with the standardization
bodies in the member States to develop the production and service sectors,
foster intra-GCC trade, protect consumers, the environment and public
health, enhance the GCC economy and its competitiveness and meet the
requirements of the Gulf Custom Union and Gulf Common Market.
3 GSO GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
3.1. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): GSO is working under the umbrella of GCC as one of its
organizations.
3.2. The Ministerial Committee for
Standardizations affairs (MC): is the highest
authority of GSO, vested with all powers relating to its functioning. The
MC consists of respective Ministers of Commerce, Industry, and Investment
in GCC member States.
3.3. The GSO Technical Council (TC): consists of the respective directors of the National Standards
Bodies (NSBs) of GSO member States, and reports to MC.
3.4. The Presidency:
is headed by the President and consists of GSO professional staff to facilitate
the activities of GSO, and reports to MC and TC.
3.5. The GSO Steering and Technical Committees
(STCs): consist of technical experts representing
each National Standards Body of the member States. The STCs report to the GSO
TC and are responsible for the planning, coordination and monitoring of all the
technical work of GSO in standards, conformity assessment, metrology, and
notification.
4 GSO STRATEGY 2021-2025
4.1. GSO has defined its Strategic Plan for the year 2025, approved by
the Ministerial Committee for Standardization, and that is to be the trusted
regional organization of excellence in standardization activities, and the
first enabler for the Gulf Common Market. To achieve its vision, GSO relies on
the successful implementation of three main strategic themes, the first of
which is organizational excellence - "Accurate implementation of GSO's
activities and operations with high efficiency, lowest costs and on time, to
provide value-added services to GCC member States". The second theme
is being a regional organization pioneer– where GSO becomes a major and
reliable reference in GCC member States for standardization activities by
positioning itself within the global map of standardization organizations and
bodies, and building effective strategic partnerships to support trade,
industry and economy in GCC member States. Finally, the third theme is to
strengthen the economic integration among the GCC member States – by way of
GSO's contribution to achieving a common Gulf market and economic growth for
member States through standardization activities, conformity procedures, and
unified and effective control over products, as the first enablers of the
Gulf Common Market. Moreover, all GSO programmes, projects, and activities have
been aligned with these themes.
5 STANDARDS AND METROLOGY
5.1. GSO has developed more than 29,407 Unified Gulf
Standards and Technical Regulations. Almost 93% of GSO standards are
adopted from international standards, including the International
Standardization Organization (ISO) (62%), the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) (20%), CEN-CENELEC (4%), the ASTM International (ASTM) (4%),
and (7%) prepared by GSO, and the remaining percentage (3%) is adopted from
other international and regional organizations.
5.2. Technical regulations account for only 4% of the total Gulf
standards, while the remaining 96% are voluntary standards, within GSO
strategic approach to minimize mandatory regulations (whenever possible) and
follow international practices to facilitate trade.
5.3. GSO adopted ISO/IEC directives for technical work as a basis for its
own directives to ensure that GSO technical committees follow international
practices in the standards development process. At present, there are 53
GSO/TCs, TCs sub-committees, working groups and task forces for standards
development representing all GSO member States.
5.4. GSO established and hosted the Gulf Association for Metrology (GULFMET) as a Regional Metrology
Organization (RMO), bringing together National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) of
GCC countries. The International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM)
in BIPM decided to grant
GULFMET full membership in the Joint Committee of the Regional Metrology
Organizations and the BIPM (JCRB), with a voice and the right to vote in CIPM
meeting No. 110 dated on 22‑24 June 2021.
5.5. GULFMET has published 105
measurement capabilities and calibrations in the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures KCDB BIPM database, and organized 38 Inter-laboratory
comparisons (ILCs).
5.6. In terms of research, the GULFMET
published scientific research in the field of hardness measurements at the
International Conference of the International Metrology Federation (IMEKO).
5.7. GSO and GULFMET organized the
second Gulf Metrology Forum, through which a memorandum of understanding was
signed between GULFMET and the
International Metrology Federation (IMEKO) and a technical cooperation was
signed with EUROLAB.
5.8. The GulfMet members are GSO member States in addition to associate
members (Bosnia and Herzegovina; Egypt; Türkiye; South Korea; Hong
Kong, China; and Iraq).
6 CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
6.1. GSO developed the GCC
Conformity Assessment Scheme in pursuance of reducing the technical
barriers of trade and facilitating the free movement of commodities across
borders within the GCC member States and the rest of the world. Within the
framework of the Gulf System for Safety Monitoring of Products in the GCC
Common Market, GSO has issued Horizontal Technical Regulations, Vertical
Technical Regulations, as well as other Technical Guides. Three technical regulations
have been implemented with the Gulf
Conformity Marking, namely, the GSO Technical Regulation on Toys, the GSO
Technical Regulation on Low Voltage Electrical Equipment and Appliances,
and the GSO Technical Regulation for Water consumption conservation Products.
6.2. GSO has developed the MUTABIQ
platform to facilitate the certifications procedures, enhance the quality of
serves, to shorten the time of review and to have a detailed data for the
benefit of GSO stakeholders. The main objective for the GSO Certification
Scheme is to verify the compliance of the related products with GSO Technical Regulations
to assure of their safety for users and to protect the environment in the
region. GSO issued 555,516 conformity certificates for vehicles, tires, and motorcycles.
6.3. GSO follows the TBT notifications rules, for example, GSO has issued
a Technical Regulation for electric vehicles, announced by the United Arab
Emirates using the unified GSO/TBT notification dated 4 February 2025 ePing Platform, which allows the
manufacturers to access the final texts of this technical regulation and
relevant dates of its implementation and to provide any technical comments
before approval stage by MC.
6.4. GSO is the notifying authority by decision of the Board of
Directors, May 2013. GSO approved 130 notified bodies in many
countries around the world to issue the Gulf Mark for Children Toys, Low
Voltage Electrical Equipment and Appliances, and Water Consumption Conservation
Products. More than 75,098 products have received the G-Mark through the GCC
Conformity Tracking System. Additionally, 1,062 free Proficiency Testing
Programs (PTs) for 788 GCC laboratories have been organized as one of
the main activities of the Gulf Association
for Laboratories (GCCLAB), which is an open network for laboratories and
supporting companies operating in the GCC member States. It was established as
an initiative of the GSO and the recommendations of the first GCC Conference
for Laboratories Proficiency (Dubai, 13 March 2013).
7 CAPACITY BUILDING
7.1. GSO invests in strengthening the knowledge, skills, and know-how of
specialists in NSBs through extensive and blended training and technical
assistance programs. GSO established the GCC Standardization
Training Center to meet the needs and requirements of GSO members, and to
help them participate effectively in the development of international
standards, as well as towards increasing their competence in good
standardization practices (GSPs). An annual training plan is designed based on
the needs of NSBs, and training is to be delivered through highly qualified
experts in cooperation with international and regional standardization
organizations.
7.2. More than 16,000 participants since 2007, and more than 600 training
courses have been organized by GSO in cooperation with member States.
8 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SUPPORT FOR
MEMBER STATES
8.1. GSO has developed a range of platforms and e-services to
support various standardization activities. These services are continuously
improved based on direct feedback from end users and the evolving needs of
member States. The quick response to those needs, attracted member bodies to
use these platforms for some of their national activities.
8.1 Standards for Beneficiaries
8.2. Our Standards Information Management System integrates with API
Gateways from leading international standardization organizations, including
ISO, IEC, CEN-CENELEC, and ASTM. This integration has significantly
improved the quality of our standards data and provided accurate reports on
Gulf Standards based on withdrawn or revised international standards,
helping our technical committees take proper action.
8.3. GSO also uses XML technologies for publishing standards, enhancing
the quality of the files. A project is currently in progress to convert
our backlog of standards to this format.
8.4. In addition, GSO has enabled its member bodies to enter national
adoption details, automating the generation of national versions of the
standards. This visibility into national adoptions will eventually benefit all
stakeholders.
8.5. The GSO Standard
Store provides Gulf standards and technical regulations to all
beneficiaries with an efficient search function and accurate information. GSO
also hosts three National Standards Stores for the Kingdom of Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen, delivering National, Gulf, and
International standards to their beneficiaries.
8.2 Standards Development
8.6. GSO has developed a system
to manage technical committees and their projects. It provides all
interested parties access to drafts of standards and technical regulations for
public commenting.
8.7. Part of GSO's projects is translating ISO standards into Arabic. We
even host the ISO Arabic Translation Group's projects on our platform with
users from various Arab standardization bodies.
8.8. Following the success in supporting our member bodies with sales and
publishing, we have launched a new initiative in progress for member States to
host their national committees and projects on our platforms.
8.3 Conformity Assessment
8.9. GSO has developed a platform to automate the tracking of conformity
certificates issued by manufacturers or by Gulf Notified Bodies for the use of Gulf
Conformity Mark. All certificates come with QR codes for tracking (GCTS),
and some include labels for fuel
efficiency or water consumption.
8.10. GSO has developed Rapid Alert System for
Exchange of Information on Dangerous Products (Aajel), ensuring the rapid
exchange of information between member States and GSO regarding the measures
and procedures taken with regard to products destined for the consumer that may
pose a critical risk to his health and safety.
8.11. The same pattern is repeating here, and we are using our platform to
support our member bodies for the notification of conformity assessment bodies
in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen, and the tracking of conformity
certificates or energy efficiency labels approval letters.
9 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
9.1. The GSO, with the objective to establish mutually beneficial
cooperation with the relevant international and regional organizations,
continues to promote international standards through 79 MoUs
and Cooperation agreements with many international and regional
organizations.
9.2. GSO is an observer member in many international organizations,
including the ISO, the IEC, the Codex Alimentarius (CAC), the WTO TBT/SPS, the
International Organization of Legal Metrology (OMIL), CEN CENELEC, Standards
and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), Arabic Industrial
Development and Mining Organization (AIDSMO), Pan American Standards Commission
(COPANT), African Organization for Standardization (ARSO), the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). GSO is a full member of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), and a member of the Consultation Group to the
WOAH Observatory, and the Energy and Carbon Advisory Council (International
Code Council).
9.3. GSO is participating in many key international and regional annual meetings
and assemblies within the framework of the MoUs signed with its partners.
10 GSO CONTRIBUTION - SPS COMMITTEE
10.1. So far, GSO issued a total of 2,030 Standards and Technical
Regulations in the food and agriculture sector. Recently, the 61st GSO
Technical Council Meeting (13-14 October 2025, Kuwait) approved many standards
and technical regulations in the food and agriculture sector, as follows:
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