Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States
to International Standards
30
technical committees that produce harmonized standards in areas of economic interests to GCC states. It
has also made some progress in the area of conformity assessment, although sectoral scope is as yet
limited. The GSO coordinates with a regional accreditation body, an example of the need for a common
approach among organizations involved in quality infrastructure.
In light of the analysis that will come later, this subsection focuses on one key initiative of interest to OIC
member states: the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC). The SMIIC was
established in 2010, after a long ratification period. Although it operates under the auspices of the OIC,
not all OIC member states have accepted to become members of the SMIIC. Currently, 32 OIC members
are also members of the SMIIC.1 The Institute’s mandate is a broad one, being, in essence, to help
develop quality infrastructure among OIC member states, including through the promotion of
harmonization, as well as various other aspects of quality policy. In particular, it is charged with
responsibility for developing OIC/SMIIC standards that should, in addition to harmonization, form the
basis of metrology and accreditation activities in OIC member states.
In the area of standardization, the SMIIC has seven technical committees: Halal food issues, Halal
cosmetic issues, service site issues, renewable energy, tourism and related services, agriculture
processes, and transportation. It has designed its committee structure to be compatible with ISO and
CEN, and has reached out to work cooperate with these and other organizations. Its sectoral focus is
narrower than that of generalist international standardization organizations like ISO, but broader than
those with specialist remit, such as IEC. Based on an analysis of the SMIIC’s website, it has currently only
three harmonized standards in force, all dealing with Halal food issues. Although clearly an important
subject for consumers in OIC member states, as well as a potential source of export competitiveness in
destination markets with populations that consume Halal food, including Europe, the number of
standards is small relative to the total number of active standards in most OIC member states for which
data have been made available as part of this study. However, the SMIIC as clearly filled a
standardization gap in the sense that Halal issues are not dealt with by generalist standards
organizations.
The SMIIC is also active in the areas of metrology and accreditation. In terms of metrology, there is a
specialized committee where members can exchange views on issues of mutual interest. In particular,
one key objective is to promote an internationalized mutual recognition agreement issued by the CIPM,
an international metrology body. The committee intends to play a leadership role for members with
respect to upgrading quality infrastructure, and obtaining ISO accreditation. This approach shows that
the ways in which quality infrastructure has been elaborated at the international level are key to the