COVID-19: Measures taken to ensure continuity of businesses in Oman

Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has taken a number of measures to ensure continuity of business and smooth movement of imports and exports in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, in cooperation with various local and regional authorities and institutions.

Dr. Ahmad bin Salim Al Shammakhi, Director of the Conformity Department at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion said, "The role of the Directorate General of Standards and Metrology is important because it verifies that the products and commodities coming to the market of the Sultanate of Oman conform to the approved specifications, standards and legislations."

It is done by inspections and tests of the consignments coming to the Sultanate from various countries to ensure that they are not traded in the local market except after full verification of their compliance with the terms, conditions and specifications approved in Oman. This is because the ministry is always concerned about the safety of the consumers.

The Compliance Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has taken some measures to make import and export operations easy. It did this in cooperation with the Directorate General of Customs of the Royal Oman Police, Oman Barcoding Centre, Food Safety and Quality Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, as well as GCC Standardization Organization, he said.

Ahmad Al Shammakhi said that the important precautionary measures taken by the department were the approval of receiving all applications and transactions which were accepted on paper previously through email. Currently, all the applications are being scrutinised and stamped electronically.

They are also getting serial numbers electronically which help in tracking of the date of receiving, stages and completion of the transaction without any requirement of the physical presence of a person at the office except in rare cases.

This has helped in maintaining the flow of work despite lockdown in all governorates. It also saved the costs of employees and time as well as matched with the precautionary measures taken at the lounges of visitors.

Most important paper works which converted into complete electronic services was issuing of validity, health, re-export of food products certificates. They were earlier processed on paper before Coronavirus pandemic. Now these services are available electronically on ‘Bayan’ custom portal in cooperation with the Directorate General of Customs of the Royal Oman Police since April 2020.

This service is shifted to the Food Safety and Quality Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources on August 1, 2020 according to the decree issued to set up the centre and decided its powers. In addition to this, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Oman Barcoding Centre and Directorate of Traffic of the Royal Oman Police agreed on issuing base numbers for trailers and vehicles.

Under this arrangement, the Oman Barcoding Centre would regulate the process of issuing these numbers in accordance with the best international practices in the area. With this the service is made available directly in coordination with the Directorate General of Traffic of the Royal Oman Police, Oman Barcoding Centre without any need for a personal visit to the Directorate General of Standards and Metrology of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion. This has also reduced the time and stages of this service and make the barcoding easy for manufacturers and importers of this type of trailers.

As for the sale of specifications, Al Shammakhi said that the Omani Standards Store has been launched in cooperation with the GCC Standardization Organization make the search process and obtaining of all Omani specifications, which include international and Gulf specifications, easy. With the launch of this service, there is no need to personally visit the Directorate General of Standards and Metrology in the ministry. Those who are looking for these specifications and interested in purchasing can visit the website . It is available round the clock.

Dr. Ahmad Al Shammakhi said, "As for the Gulf conformity certificates issued for some products, for example low-voltage electrical devices which have the conformity mark and the Gulf tracking barcode, the validity of the expired certificates has been extended for three months between March 1 to June 31 of this year. If the validity of the certificate is ending on June 31, it is extended to September 30. This is keeping in view the situations being faced due to the Coronavirus pandemic and to make it easy for the traders and importers to fulfil the requirements."

These measures taken by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion in cooperation with the concerned authorities had an impact on the trade in the Sultanate. There was no shortage of any goods and the prices remained stable in the markets during total and partial lockdown in the Sultanate between April and July this year.