Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States

to International Standards

Within this general perspective, the study has four particular objectives:

Outline the importance and role of standards related measures (standards, technical regulations,

conformity assessment procedures);

Review and evaluate the institutional structure (international agreements like WTO TBT/SPS

and international organizations);

Analyze the current state in the OIC member states in terms of compliance with international

standards and assess opportunities and challenges; and

Derive practical recommendations and policy options for the Member States.

Against this background, the report proceeds as follows. Section 2 provides substantive background by

elaborating on the question of why international product standards matter for OIC member states. The

focus is on economic mechanisms, as well as international trade policy realities. Section 3 analyzes the

institutions supporting international standards harmonization in OIC member states. It reports the

results of a data collection exercise, based on a review of the key issues. It also discusses selected

regional initiatives that are of relevance to the OIC’s geographically diverse membership. Section 4

comes at the question from a different angle: OIC member states’ participation in international

standards bodies, focusing on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International

Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The case studies—three

from within the OIC and three from outside—are presented in Section 6. Finally, Section 7 concludes and

presents a set of policy recommendations based on the report’s findings.