. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3/Rev.1 
20 January 2012 
 (12-0383) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
Revision 
 
 1. A renewed application
2 for observer status in the SPS Committee was received on 2 January 
2012 from the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardizati on Organization (GSO).  Furthermore, the GSO 
indicated that Yemen had joined the organization as full member with effect from January 2010.  
Information provided by the GSO is summarized below. 
1. Membership (7) 
Bahrain, Kingdom of  Kuwait     Oman 
Qatar    Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates Yemen 
 2. Mandate, Scope and Area of Work 
2. GSO is a regional standardization organization ma inly concerned with the issuing of regional 
standard specifications, technical regulations a nd 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.  This 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 
3. 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.   
4. 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 technical  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. 
                                                      
1 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. 
2 First application r eceived on 6 May 2007. G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  5. GSO has no affiliation with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) or the 
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), but is  willing to adopt their standards where applicable 
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.  
6. 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 Ag reements, including, among other things, the 
notification process and the creation of enquiry points.  
7. GSO helped developed a program with the Join t Accreditation Service for Australia and New 
Zealand (JAS-ANZ) to create a GCC regional sc heme 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 h as 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 
8. 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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