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Engineer Mohammad Badri said:" According to the agreement of the removal of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) endorsed by the World Trade Organization, whose agreements organize around 90% of international trade, all member countries are obliged to establish technical entities which are charged with issuing technical regulations based on international specifications and that all those specifications should treat all products, locally produced and imported ones, equally in an honest, transparent, neutral and efficient manner."He illustrated that the current dominant tendency at the international arena towards globalization, as perceived in the free flow of products, services, capital, labor, technology and information across global borders, created a pressing need for complying to specifications for all stakeholders of the trade equation including manufacturers, traders and consumers, among the foremost criteria of quality are Quality Management System ISO 9001, Environmental Management System ISO 14001, Food Safety Management System ISO 22000, Information Security Management System ISO/IEC 27001, and Occupational Health and Safety Management System BS OHSAS 18001. He added that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is in the process of approving the Management System Standard for Energy ISO 50001 and this is expected to have its impact on 60% of energy needs worldwide especially with regard to increasing efficient energy use, reducing its costs and improving environmental efficiency. Moreover, ISO General Assembly approved ISO 26000 in 2010, and it pertains to social responsibility. engineer Badri pointed out that ESMA has issued 5,000 optional standards up till now whereas the total number of mandatory technical regulations reached 607 which cover a wide range of fields. He added that for the purposes of ensuring that locally manufactured and imported products comply to mandatory standards and inspection, facilitate the flow of bilateral trade, and raise the level of trust in the products circulated at markets, ESMA deploys conformity programs to ensure that these products meet mandatory standards. In 2010, ESMA issued 1678 conformity certificate which represents a 900% increase compared to the figure achieved in 2009. He pointed out that the conformity programs applied by ESMA offer manufacturers and traders a large number of advantages as these programs limit the importing and production of products that do not conform to standard specifications and thereby impel manufacturers to take corrective measures to improve their products and raise consumers' trust in the products sold at markets. These programs also ensure that exporters' products will not be rejected for reasons pertaining to conformity and tests will not be rerun to check conformity, and therefore save valuable efforts and money. In order to boost consumers' trust, Engineer Badri pointed out that the products that are circulated locally or at export markets conform to standard specifications and that the production system at the manufacturer's company fulfills the quality requirements set by ESMA, he also referred to the fact that in 2006, ESMA developed the Emirati Quality Mark which proved very popular locally and internationally, the total number of products which obtained this mark reached 1868 products until May 2011. He added that in the field of certification, from 2008 and up till now ESMA granted certification to 36 conformity assessment entities including 25 labs, 3 calibration labs, 6 inspections bodies and 2 certification entities, it also granted certification to 5 entities abroad. Engineer Mohammad Saleh Badri, Acting Director General, ESMA, extended his appreciation for DED in Abu Dhabi and all the entities that participated in the preparation for this important workshop and also wished everyone success. The workshop began with a presentation by QCC about the "Role of Standardization and Metrology in Supporting National Economy and Boosting the Competitiveness of national industries", it was presented by Engineer Osama Melhem, Foreign Relations Advisor at QCC, in which he shed light on the early beginning of standardization and metrology and their development and quality infrastructure at the national, regional and international levels. He also touched upon the key role standardization and metrology play in protecting the health, safety, rights and environment of the society, and in this context he illustrated QCC's special efforts in the fields of standardization, industrial specifications and national trade in particular and the society in general. Then Abu Dhabi QCC conducted a presentation entitled:" Quality Infrastructure: Creating Global Opportunities for Local Companies" through which a general overview of QCC was presented with the focus on quality infrastructure and the services it offers to local industry, and it also illustrated a case study as an example of quality infrastructure. At the end of the workshop Al Yousuf Electronics conducted a presentation, as it is a private company which obtained the Emirati Quality Mark (EQM), in which it shed light on its products, clients' database, its achievements the role ESMA plays in issuing regulations and the preparations and general benefits of EQM.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.
