WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/KWT/1
23 December 2002
(02-7084)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   THE STATE OF KUWAIT
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:             The Public Authority for Industry (PAI)
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:           
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [     ], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):
I-01a toys,  incl. video games and other electronic toys
I-01b playground , amusement and fairground equipment.
HS Codes: 8712.00 / 9501 / 9502 / 9503 / 9504.10 / 9504.90  / 9505 / From 9506.99 / 9508 /
From 3407
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Implementation of the
International Conformity Certification Program (English version)           
6.Description of content:  Conformity assessment procedures applied on the Regulated
Products at the Countries of Export to ensure  their conformity to the applicable Kuwaiti
technical regulations and standards. Exporters have the option to choose one of the
following routes for compliance:
1) Consignment Inspection and Testing
2) Product Registration, Inspection and Testing
3) Product Licensing
Details published in the ICCP Procedures and Guidelines.
7.Objective and rationale: “legitimate objectives of protection of health, safety, national
security, the environment, public morals (including religious values) , and prevention of
deceptive practices ”.
Implementation of the subject measure constitutes an exercise of a WTO Members’ right
under Article 5 of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement for “central government
bodies to apply procedures for assessment of  conformity to products originating in the
territories of other Members in cases where a positive assurance of conformity withTechnical Regulation and Standards is required .”
1) The introduced ICCP applies Conformity Assessment and Verification Procedures
(CAVP) at the countries of export of the Regulated Products prior to shipment, thereby
satisfying the criteria of article 5.1.1 of the TBT Agreement in providing “access”  toG/TBT/N/KWT/1
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manufacturers and exporters, “including the possibility to have conformity assessment
activities undertaken at the site of facilities and to receive the mark of the system.”
2) In compliance with the provisions of Article 5.1.2 which stipulates that “conformity
assessment procedures shall be no more stri ct or be applied more strictly than is
necessary to give confidence that products conform to the applicable technical
regulations and standards” , ICCP adheres to the principle of proportionality through
providing exporters the flexibility to choose between (3) different methods of achieving
compliance, each with a varying degree of shipment intervention and testing. The
nature, extent and complexity of CAVP applied depend on the assessed level of
conformity to the relevant requirements as revealed through evaluation of test reports,
certifications, quality marks …etc that the product has already acquired. For example,
registered products that have demonstrated their conformity through substantiated testreports may be granted a complete waiver from testing for up to (3) years. Other
products with deficient conformity will only be tested for the outstanding requirements,
thereby avoiding unnecessary duplication.
3) Conformity to Kuwaiti technical regulations and standards is a mandatory requirement
for imported and locally manufactured products alike. CAVP applied under the ProductLicensing option of the ICCP are parallel to CAVP applied under The Quality Mark
System for locally manufactured products.  Other locally manufactured products not
opting for the Quality Mark System are subjected to periodic drawing of samples from
production lines and various market locations with subsequent carrying out of
conformity assessment testing at PAI or other public or private sector laboratories insideand outside Kuwait. The system can be considered as “equivalent”  (in the spirit and
meaning of Article 6.1) to the Registration option under ICCP, notwithstanding any
differences between the two systems as long as the “assurance of conformity”  criteria
are satisfied under both.  In any case, implementation of the ICCP on imported products
would free substantial resources of skilled PAI manpower and facilities that can bedirected and devoted towards higher level of enforcement on locally manufactured
products.  Additionally, the PAI is engaged in refining the process by preparing and
adopting a more structured program entitled “Conformity Mark” in conjunction with
other GCC countries opting for the same. The procedures of this Program are designed
to be as much parallel to the Registration option under the ICCP as possible.
Development of such a Program would have to take into consideration the pace of
development and limitations of local capabilities, infrastructural facilities and technicalskills.  Nevertheless, the fact remains that apart from exports of oil and petrochemicals,
the State of Kuwait is a pure importer of products.  Thus, taking into consideration the
Developing Country status of Kuwait, shortcomings (if any) in the current
implementation of CAVP on locally manufactured products should not prejudice the
right of the Kuwaiti consumer to be protected at large against potential non-conformities in imported products that represent the majority of products made
available to him in the Kuwaiti market.  Should Developed Country Members consider
(under their own evaluation) that CAVP applied by the State of Kuwait on locally
manufactured products are inadequate in any way, they are under obligation in
accordance with Article 11 to provide Technical Assistance to the State of Kuwait indeveloping its CAVP and bodies.
4) The PAI have chosen and appointed a Program Management Company to administer
the ICCP globally on its behalf pursuant to a competitive bidding process resulting in
the selection of the bidder with the lowest fees and highest qualification points.  The
fees charged cover the costs of testing, evaluation, registration and product licensing,and are in line if not more competitive than prevailing market rates. Consignment
inspection fees have a graduated decreasing scale against larger consignments with the
fee in each scale consisting of a fixed and a variable component based on % of the FOBG/TBT/N/KWT/1
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value of the consignment, subject to a minimum charge, thereby providing uniformity
and equitability among products originating in different countries. All fees charged
under the ICCP are paid directly to the bodi es conducting the CAVP. No part of the fees
or benefits is paid directly or indirectly to PAI or any other Kuwaiti government body.
As such, the fees are equitable and “are limited in amount to the approximate cost of
services rendered and does not represent an indirect protection to products or a
taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes”.
5) The ICCP meets the criteria of Articles 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.4, 5.2.6, 5.2.7, and 5.2.8 in
relation to processing periods and avoiding of delays, information and confidentiality
requirements, the siting of facilities, and the handling of complaints, as explained in
detail in the Procedures and Guidelines document.
6) The ICCP complies with the provisions of Article 5.4 in that all CAVP applied by the
Program are based on the relevant International Guides and Recommendations. A
classical example of such Guide is ISO 28 on which the ICCP’s product licensing is
based.
7) The ICCP accepts results of CAP issued by internationally or nationally accredited or
recognized bodies, or bodies with which mutual recognition agreements had beenconcluded, in as much as they offer an assurance of conformity to the applicable
technical regulations and standards.
8) The State of Kuwait is allowing a reasonable period from the date of this notification
for other WTO Members “ to make comments in writing”  and expresses its intent to
“discuss these comments upon request, an d take these written comments and the
results of these discussions into account”.  Additionally, the PAI will during the
notification period “publish a notice in a publication at an early appropriate stage, in
such a manner as to enable interested parties in other WTO Members to become
acquainted with it, that it proposes to  introduce this conformity assessment
procedure”.   This will take the form but is not be limited to notification and forwarding
of copies of the ICCP Procedures and Gu idelines to foreign Embassies in Kuwait,
Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Kuwait Industries Union, Kuwaiti
Embassies in exporting countries, Interna tional Joint Chambers of Commerce, major
manufacturers associations of the Regulated Products, as well as publishing of articles
in the local newspapers and conducting information and discussion seminars about the
Program for local businessmen and importers.
8. Relevant documents:
1)   International Conformity Certification Program at Exporting Countries –
Comprehensive Procedures and Guidelines (13 pages plus Appendices A to J)
2)           List of Kuwaiti Standards applicable during 1st stage of ICCP
9. Proposed date of adoption:
Proposed date of entry into force: }The date of enforcement for Group I Productshas not been determined yet.
10. Final date for comments:   31 January 2003G/TBT/N/KWT/1
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11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:
PAI
Web site:  www.pai-iccp.com