GSO organizes the sixth Gulf Open Day for Economic Operators
The GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) organized the sixth Gulf Open Day for Economic Operators, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in the United Arab Emirates, on 15 May, 2024, in the city of Dubai. Participation brought together more than 180 participants from economic operators and representatives of GSO member states.
The activities of the sixth Gulf Open Day consisted of a number of sessions and working papers that reviewed and discussed many relevant issues, on top of which a working paper on updates to the Gulf conformity system, ongoing projects, the future of conformity processes in the Gulf Cooperation Council States, and the role of economic operators in developing compliance with technical regulations.
The working papers also included a paper on the UAE regulatory system, updating the UAE notification system, the experience of the Kingdom of Bahrain in updating the conformity assessment system, and the Saudi Product Safety Program, in addition to a working paper on the Hazm platform, and a discussion session on ways to enhance and develop cooperation and coordination between relevant parties in the regulatory process.
GSO aims by organizing this event at involving key stakeholders in the regulatory process to improve the regulatory practices, ensuring product safety and facilitating trade exchange, in addition to support the participation of economic operators in preparing and developing technical regulations, and activating the sectoral working groups between GSO and economic operators, which ensures improving the regulatory practices, enhancing the participation of economic operators, and thus enhancing the efficiency of implementation.
The open day event also aims at coming up with recommendations that support GSO direction in enhancing the participation of economic operators and relevant parties.
The Gulf Open Day for Economic Operators is an opportunity and conduit to exchange views and experiences on involvement and cooperation, to discuss the most prominent implementation challenges, the main issues for further cooperation and coordination between regulators, economic operators and notified bodies, addressing these challenges, and issuing relevant recommendations on ways to further improve this coordination, with the aim of ensuring full participation of the economic operators (manufacturers, importers, distributors, authorized dealers) in the process of preparing Gulf technical regulations to ensure safety of industrial products in the Gulf common market.
It is worthwhile mentioning that GSO organizes the Gulf Open Day for Economic Operators on an annual basis to coincide with the meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Groups of Notified Bodies, which is a continuation of the partnership between GSO and the national standardization bodies in the member states and the economic operators, as GSO attaches strategic importance to this topic.
The GSO strategic plan 2025 includes many strategic projects and initiatives to enhance and support the participation of relevant authorities in standardization activities, and establishing and implementing consultation mechanisms with economic operators for conformity activities in relation to Gulf technical regulations in a way that contributes to raising industrial and commercial capabilities, as well as identifying the challenges and difficulties facing economic operators in implementing Gulf regulations. GSO is opening new horizons for future cooperation between GSO, conformity assessment bodies and economic operators, and involving all economic operators in the optimal implementation of these regulations to accomplish safety of the products offered in the markets, and supporting ways to communicate with all parties concerned with implementing the Gulf technical regulations in the field of low-voltage electrical appliances and equipment, children toys, water rationalization tools, and energy efficiency.
