WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/241 
2 September 2004  
 
(04-3644) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
   
STATEMENT ON CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES  
IMPLEMENTED IN JORDAN 
 
Special Meeting of the TBT Committee Dedicated to Conformity 
 
Assessment Procedures held on 29 June 2004  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 1 September 2004, is being circulated at the request of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
. 
 
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1. This document describes the current status of the applied conformity assessment procedures 
in Jordan and states future pl ans and actions in this area. 
2. The overall conformity assessment systems including inspection, market surveillance, testing, 
certification and accreditation, are mainly implemen ted by governmental bodies.  Some private bodies 
also perform certification and testing.  The major offi cial agencies working in this area are the Jordan 
Institution for Standards and Metrology (JISM)  and the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). 
3. Following is a description of these activities: 
I. INSPECTION AND MARKET SURVEILLANCE 
4. The Control Department at JISM inspects impor ted and locally produced products to ensure 
their compliance with the Jordanian standards and technical regulations.  
5. Inspection on imported products starts at the bor ders before entry into Jordan and includes 
examination of each consignment, sampling and testi ng of products subject to the Jordanian technical 
regulations. 
6. Locally produced products are monitored regul arly by conducting systematic visits to 
factories according to annual and monthly plans that  are prepared based on the risk of the product and 
the previous inspection results.  During the visits , the production lines and storage areas are inspected 
and samples are withdrawn and sent for testing.  In cases where deviations are identified, the manufacturer will be subject to the applicable penalty. 
7. Due to the incomplete infrastructure of testing in Jordan, the control system does not cover all 
products that are placed in the Jordanian market , which decreases the effe ctiveness of health and 
safety ensurance of the Jordanian citizens and environm ent protection.  In order to solve this problem 
and ensure the protection of human health and saf ety and environment protection, JISM introduced 
two new systems: G/TBT/W/241 
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A. T
HE INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT CONFORMITY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM (IPCCP)  (KNOWN 
AS DAMAN) 
8. This programme is implemented by an inte rnational certification body that performs 
inspection and testing at the country of supply or origin and issues certificates of conformity accordingly on behalf of JISM. 
9. Four groups of products are covered under this programme on a mandatory basis.  These are 
Toys, Electrical and Electronic Appliances, Safety E quipment, Vehicles and Tyres.  Food products are 
covered on a voluntary basis. 
10. The programme is also implemented on the locally manufactured like products, where the 
factories are subjected to the licensing procedure under which they are audited to verify the 
competence of their quality management system and manufacturing process.  Samples will be taken 
for full testing to verify their compliance with th e applicable technical regulation.  After that, the 
manufacturer will be granted a type approval/license certif icate that is valid for three years and will be 
allowed to place the DAMAN mark on the licensed products.  Surveillance au dits will be conducted 
during the period of licensing to check continued comp liance, in addition to th e market surveillance  
B. T
HE RISK -BASED SYSTEM  
11. This system is implemented on imported produc ts based on a risk assessment of the product 
and is currently implemented only at the Aqaba a nd Amman customs centres.  JISM is working now 
on developing this system to include other risk factors, such as the exporter and importer.  Implementation of such a system will be expanded to include all customs centres. 
12. The Ministry of Health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Ministry of 
Agriculture share with JISM the responsibility of ensuring the compliance of the locally produced and 
imported food products with the Jordan ian technical regulations and the control of their entry into the 
local markets.  
13. Local municipalities, in addition to the above-m entioned authorities, depending on their scope 
of work, conduct regular inspections of the local markets.  JISM conducts market surveillance on a 
random basis and on a small scale based on complaints  received from consumers.  It also conducts 
inspection on elevators against safety requireme nts after installation and prior to use.  
14. JISM is now working on developing the internal sy stem of the Control Department to be able 
to fulfil and implement effectively the requireme nts of the ISO/IEC 17020 for inspection bodies.  
II. TESTING 
15. The testing laboratories in Jordan are: 
• Royal Scientific Society (RSS) laboratories that perform a wide number of tests.  15 
of these laboratories are accredited in the scope of electricity, food, chemical analysis, construction, mechanical tests, and water, in addition to limited scope of calibration; 
 
• JISM laboratories for testing food products, chemical products, cosmetics, and 
precious metals, in addition to a mass calibration laboratory with limited scope; 
 
• Amman Municipality Laboratory for testing of food products; 
 
• The Central Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for testing food products and 
cosmetics;  and   G/TBT/W/241 
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• The National Center for Agriculture Research and Technology Transfer/Ministry of 
Agriculture Laboratories for testing fertili zers, pesticides and pesticide residues. 
 16. Other laboratories are working in the private sector;  the number of these laboratories is not 
clearly defined.  Some of these have al ready applied for national accreditation. 
17. The above information shows that testing in  Jordan is focusing mainly on food products, 
while testing of other products is very limited.  RSS laboratories are the main laboratories in Jordan, 
out of which 15 laboratories are accredited.  Other non-accredited RSS laboratories have good 
technical infrastructure and competent human resources. 
18. Nevertheless, there are areas where no means of testing of locally produced and imported 
products exist at all, which makes the conformity  assessment activities and the task of ensuring the 
health and safety of the consumers in Jordan weak.  
III. CERTIFICATION 
19. Certification in Jordan includes a quality mana gement system, an environmental management 
system, and product certification. 
20. Certification bodies working in this field are from both the private and governmental sectors. 
21. The certification department in JISM supervises product certification and grants the Jordanian 
Quality Mark for products according to specified instructions that include technical requirements 
higher than those stated in the Jordanian Standard s and management requirements that comply with 
the ISO 9001/2000. 
22. The certification department implements a quality management system that complies with the 
requirements of the ISO/IEC Guide 65 and is working on adopting international systems for quality 
marks.  The department intends to seek accreditati on and sign mutual recognition agreements so that 
its results would be accepted internationally.  It is also intending to establish a national safety 
certification system to prohibit the entry of unsaf e products to the local markets and thus protect 
human health and life. 
23. Two internationally accredited certification bodies,  Lloyd’s and SGS, are working in Jordan 
in the field of quality management system and envi ronmental management system certification.  Both 
are active in this area and have audited and certif ied a wide number of Jordanian companies against 
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 (about 500 companies). 
IV. ACCREDITATION 
24. The accreditation unit (AU) at JISM is the Na tional Accreditation Body in Jordan.  It was 
established in 2001, based on the Standards and Metr ology Law No. 22 of the year 2000, to organize 
and run the Jordanian Accreditation System (JLAS).  AU is the official successor of the Laboratory 
Accreditation Department (LAD), wh ich was established in 1997. 
25. AU accredits testing and calibration laboratories according to the International Standard ISO 
17025.  The number of laboratories accredited by AU has reached 17 and they are in the process of 
accrediting more. 
26. The accreditation body in Jordan is cu rrently an associate member of ILAC. 
27. In order to become a full member of ILAC , IAF and EA, and be able to sign multilateral 
agreements with the international accreditation organi zations to facilitate the acceptance of Jordanian G/TBT/W/241 
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exports to international markets, and to enhan ce the acceptance of Jordania n conformity assessment 
results abroad by accepting testing reports, calibrati on certificates or certificates of conformity issued 
by accredited bodies, AU is working on fulfilling and implementing effectively the requirements of 
the ISO/IEC 17011. 
28. A new law for establishing an independent Accr editation Body has been approved by the 
cabinet recently and is awaiting the approval of th e Jordanian Parliament.  The new law will allow the 
new national accreditation body to accredit inspectio n and certification bodies (personnel, products, 
management systems) in addition to the accred itation of testing and calibration laboratories. 
29. It is expected that the new body will start operating by the beginning of 2005. 
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