. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3 
5 October 2007 
 (07-4254) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
∗ 
 
Addendum  
 
  An application for observer status in th e SPS Committee was received on 6 May 2007 from 
the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organi zation (GSO).  Information provided by the 
GSO is summarized below. 
 
I. GCC STANDARDIZATION ORGANIZATION (GSO) 
1. Membership (6) 
 B a h r a i n     K u w a i t     O m a n  
 Qatar    Saudi Arabia   United Arab Emirates 
 
2. Mandate, Scope and Area of Work 
GSO is a regional standardizati on organization mainly concerned with the issuing of regional 
standard specifications, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. GSO has a 
mandate to facilitate the operation of the Gulf  Cooperation Council (GCC) Customs Union and the 
single entry point through the elimination of tr ade barriers between GCC members themselves and 
between GCC members and their trading partners. Th is is made possible through the harmonization of 
the Gulf standards specifications, technical regul ations and conformity assessment procedures with 
their international equivalents.  
3. Contribution to the Work of the SPS Committee 
GSO wishes to establish a close relationship with the SPS Committee. GSO believes that 
taking part in the SPS Committee meetings will enable  it to better coordinate with its members to 
meet the obligations of the SPS Agreement, with th e eventual aim of assuming the role of central 
notification authority on behalf of its members.   
 The work of GSO is directly relevant to th e objectives of the SPS Agreement since GSO has 
issued a large number of GCC standards and techni cal regulations that have direct bearing on food 
safety, covering issues such as pesticide residues, hormones, aflatoxins, microbiological limits, food 
additives, shelf life, labelling of pre-p ackaged foods, and Halal food products. 
 GSO has no affiliation with the Internationa l Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) or the 
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), but is  willing to adopt their standards where applicable 
                                                     
 
∗ This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3 
Page 2  
 
  and incorporate them into the framework of th e GSO Technical Standards Committee for Food and 
Food Products. GSO also participates regularly in International Organization for Standardization 
(ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) meetings as well as in the meetings of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission.  
 
GSO has been actively promoting awareness of  food safety issues among its member States, 
including topics such as HACCP.  In conjunction with  ISO, it has organized five separate courses on 
ISO 22000 to encourage food industries to adopt these standards.  Furthermore, it has also organized 
several training courses on the TBT and SPS Agre ements, including, among other things, the 
notification process and the creation of enquiry points.  
 
GSO helped developed a program with the Join t Accreditation Service for Australia and New 
Zealand (JAS-ANZ) to create a GCC regional scheme for conformity assessment to facilitate international trade through mutual recognition of testing, inspection and certification practices, and 
the creation of a GCC Accreditation Board. It ha s also worked closely with the United Nations 
Industrial Development Organizati on (UNIDO) on developing a GCC standards strategy as well as 
standardization capacity building.   
4. Reciprocity 
GSO has cordially invited the WTO Secretariat to  participate in the proceedings of the Board 
Member Meetings (comprised by the GCC Ministers of Commerce and Industry) as well as the 
meetings of the GSO Technical Council (comprised  by the Directors General of the GCC National 
Standards Bodies). 
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