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US - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Workshop on Electrical Appliance Safety

Jul 20-30, 2003 ( Northbrook, IL )

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Inc. collaborated with other organizations to offer a workshop on electrical safety, July 21-30, 2003. Fourteen mid and high-level representatives of the governments of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates participated in an interactive exchange of information. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) delegation was led by Mr. Nabil Molla, Deputy Director of the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO).

The workshop, which was held at UL's Northbrook facility, aimed to identify existing standardization and conformity assessment requirements for electrical safety in the GCC. A goal of the workshop was to provide greater awareness to the GCC participants of U.S. safety standards and certification programs.

Workshop participants held classroom discussions and visited several leading manufacturers, including Maytag, Amana, and Whirlpool, and testing facilities such as those at Underwriters Laboratories and Entela.

The U.S. and the GCC delegates agreed the workshop provided a significant step in continuing the dialogue on electrical safety issues. The U.S. Manufacturers encouraged the representatives of the GCC to work towards common standards, procedures and regulatory requirements in an effort to streamline requirements across the region. Participants from the GCC commented that Gulf countries should not reinvent the wheel but should rather ask for information from the US and improve on it. It was suggested that the U.S. and GCC consider an exchange of experts in the electrical and building materials areas. The GCC expressed its intent to continue its cooperation with NIST and suggested a sectoral technical workshop every year.

+ Objectives

To facilitate opening of markets in the GCC for U.S. industry
To provide a forum for exchange of information about current status of standards development and certification procedures in the electrical sector within the invited countries and the U.S.
To promote the use of U.S. electrical standards and certification in the GCC
To identify U.S. role to support future trends in the electrical sector in the GCC
To facilitate trade between/among invited countries and the United States.
To provide a forum for exchange of information about current status in standards and certification within the electrical sector in the United States and the invited countries.
To identify areas for future collaboration in the area of electrical safety.

+ List of Participating Organizations

Country	Organization
Kuwait	Public Authority for Industry, Quality Control Department
Oman	Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Qatar	Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology
Qatar	Conformity Certification Program
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabian Standards Organization
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Aramco CO.
United Arab Emirates	Dubai Municipality
United Arab Emirates	Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology