COMCEC Trade Outlook 2016
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measures. After completion of thementionedmeasures, the System is expected to be operational
in the near future. In line with the relevant resolution of the 31th Ministerial Session of the
COMCEC, a training seminar on the implementation of the TPS-OIC Rules of Origin was
organized on 26-27 January 2015 in Ankara by the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO) in
collaboration with the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) for the
Member Countries.
Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) which is an OIC Institution based in Morocco,
Casablanca, has also been organizing raising awareness activities for the TPS-OIC under its
capacity as the co-secretariat for the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC). Beginning with
January 2015, ICDT has successfully organized seminar on TPS-OIC in Turkey, Qatar and
Suriname.
The TPS-OIC System aims at liberalizing trade and contributes to the development of
commercial exchanges among the OIC Member States. In order to contribute to the liberalization
of trade in the Member States, COMCEC also encourages the OIC Member States to join the WTO.
In this regard, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the ICDT have been organizing several
capacity building programmes in cooperation with the Member States.
Trade Facilitation:
An important project developed by the COMCEC towards facilitating trade among the Member
States is the Standard and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC). SMIIC entered into
force in May 2010 following the ratification of its Statute by the tenth Member State.
SMIIC is an affiliated institution of the OIC which is responsible for contributing to the
development of standards in the OIC Member States. SMIIC aims at realizing harmonized
standards and eliminating any standard related factor that adversely affects the trade among
the member countries.
After the ratification of its Headquarters Agreement by the Republic of Turkey on March 31st,
2011, headquarters of SMIIC was formally established. As of September 2016, number of SMIIC
Member States was reached to 32.
Till today, SMIIC has successfully accomplished a series of events including capacity building
programs, forum, seminars and visits to the relevant organizations in the Member States in the
area of standards and metrology. One of the important activities of the SMIIC was trainings.
SMIIC Information System (IS) Training was held on 19-21 April 2016 in Istanbul. Also the
Committee on Standards for Conformity Assessment (SMIIC/CCA) has been established to
prepare guides/standards on criteria for bodies involved in testing, calibration, certification,
inspection, accreditation, their operation and assessment, and other related standards and
especially halal conformity assessment and accreditation guidelines or standards. First meeting
of SMIIC Committee on Standards for Conformity Assessment (SMIIC/CCA) was held on 23-24
March 2016, in Istanbul.
To enrich the depth of the efforts, Financial, Terminology and Technical Committees were
established under the SMIIC which dwell upon technical aspects of the relevant topics. The
Technical Committees are Halal Food Issues, Halal Cosmetic Issues, Service Site Issues,
Renewable Energy, Tourism and Related Services, Agriculture Processes and Transportation. A