RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/OMN/12
22 September 1998
(98-3635)
Working Party on the Accession
of the Sultanate of OmanOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
Communication from the Sultanate of Oman
The following communication concerning the plan of action on implementation of the
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade had been received from the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry of the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, with the request that it be circulated to
members of the Working Party.
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Action Plan for Implementing the Agreement
on Technical Barriers to Trade
A. EXISTING POSITION AND ON-GOING PROGRAMME :
1. The Sultanate of Oman has already established a legal and institutional framework for
standards.  A Royal Decree No. 39/76 was issued in 1976 establishing within the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry, a Directorate General for Sp ecifications and Measurements (DGSM).  Royal
Decree No. 1/78 issued in 1978 spelt out the functions of the Directorate General and provided , inter
alia, for a Technical Committee for Standards which includes representatives of different ministries,
and representatives of the private sector.
2. A total number of 1,065 Omani standards have been issued so far.  Most of the Omani
standards are based on international standards.
3. The DGSM accepts third party certification system for products in accordance with the
principles and guidelines of ISO/IEC Guides No. 16-1978 (E) and 28-1982 (E).  The DGSM also
accepts test results and conformity assessments by  accredited laboratories according to ISO/IEC
Guide 23, and rules of ISO/IEC Guide 38.
4. Oman provides MFN treatment and national treatment to imported products in respect of
technical regulations and standards.  Oman also follows most of the transparency requirements, as a
customary practice.  These are not provided in any law or administrative decrees.
5. The DGSM is presently studying the conformity of its laws and procedures with the
provisions of the TBT Agreement.  It has tentatively identified points of conformity andWT/ACC/OMN/12
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non-conformity.  This exercise will be finalized by December 1998 and will be the platform for action
to bring the Omani system in line with the requirements of the TBT Agreement.
B. FUTURE PROGRAMME :
6. Analysis of the existing legal and institutional system with the requirements of the TBT
Agreement will be competed by December 1998.
7. Work on preparing a draft Ministerial Decree to implement the Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade will commence in January 1999.
8. Draft Ministerial Decree will be finalized by June 1999.
9. Ministerial Decree implementing the provisions of the TBT Agreement will be issued by the
end of September 1999.
10. An Enquiry Point will be established within DGSM by March 1999.
11. A checklist of points to be included in the Mi nisterial Decree is attached.  This checklist will
be shown to WTO experts before commencing work on preparing a draft Ministerial Decree.
Points to be Included in a New Ministerial
Decree to Implement the TBT Agreement
1. DGSM is the only governmental agency responsible for issuing and enforcing technical
regulations and mandatory standards.
2. Products imported from other WTO Member countries shall be accorded treatment no less
favourable than that accorded to Omani domestic products, in respect of technical regulations and
standards.
3. There will be no discriminatory treatment in respect of technical regulations and standards as
between different WTO Member countries.
4. DGSM shall ensure that technical regulations and standards are prepared, adopted and applied
in a manner that these are not more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfill their objective.
5. DGSM shall periodically examine technical regulations and standards to determine if their
continued application is necessary.
6. Before issuing new technical regulations and standards, DGSM shall examine whether any
existing international standard can be used. Only if it cannot be used or is not suitable for Omaniconditions, will a decision be taken to prepare a new technical regulation.
7. DGSM shall publish a notice in the official gazette and other publications of a draft technical
regulation or standard and supply a copy of the draft to the WTO Secretariat.
8. Upon request, copies of draft standards will be provided to other WTO Members.WT/ACC/OMN/12
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9. DGSM will allow all interested parties a time of 90 days to submit comments on draft
standards.  The comments received will be duly considered and parties making comments will be
informed if their comments are not accepted.
10. The final technical regulation or standard will be published in the official gazette and copies
will be submitted to the WTO Secretariat.
11. The finally adopted technical regulation or standard will become applicable six months after
its publication in the official gazette.
12. DGSM will follow a similar procedure for conformity assessment procedures.
13. An Enquiry Point is established in DGSM to answer all reasonable enquiries on standards and
upon request to provide the relevant documents concerning standards and procedures.
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