. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/SAU/45
20 April 2000
(00-1621)
Working Party on the
Accession of the Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
International Conformity Certification Program (ICCP)
The Ministry of Commerce of the Kingdom of  Saudi Arabia has submitted the following
position paper on the International Conformity Certification Program (ICCP) which specifies the steps
taken by the Saudi Arabian Standards Organiza tion (SASO) to enhance the program since its
inception on 8 November 1995, with a request that it be circulated to members of the Working Party.
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The ICCP has been implemented since 8 November 1995 and covered 76 regulated product
categories.
The ICCP issue has been raised in all of the negotiation rounds held in connection with the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO, starting from the first round (2-3 May 1996)
through the seventh round (3-7 April 2000).
The Kingdom has submitted to the WTO all ICCP-related documents, of which the most
important was in document WT/ACC/SAU/26 submitted on 23 September 1997.  In this document the
Kingdom explained the program objectives and its compatibility with WTO Agreements.
The Kingdom has responded, through several other official documents, to all questions and
inquiries raised by some members.
The Saudi technical team held a number of bilateral meetings with some WTO members
during which all their inquiries and questions on the ICCP were addressed, clarified and fully
answered.
An informal technical meeting on the program was also held on 5 May 1997 with some WTO
Members.  The program was fully explained and all inquiries and questions raised by WTO Memberswere responded to.  The Saudi technical team wa s headed by Dr. Khaled Y. Al-Khalaf, Director
General of the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO).
Despite the fact that the Kingdom is adopting the same fee structure as that currently
implemented by 35 WTO Member countries, some WTO Members expressed their concern with this
structure.  However, in December 1997 the Saudi technical team requested from those concerned tosubmit an alternative fee structure for review.  As yet we have not received any such proposal.
Pursuant to constructive comments and inquiries raised by some WTO Members, Chambers
of Commerce, companies, importers and manuf acturers, SASO has introduced several major
improvements to the program which provide additiona l flexibility and simplification in the rules andWT/ACC/SAU/45
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procedures.  These were announced in the docu ment WT/ACC/SAU/36 issued on 5 August 1998 as
follows:
− Assignment of four program management companies in addition to the current
program manager whereby each will be responsible for the execution of the programfor goods imported from specific geographic regions all over the world.
− Adding the products of "Toys and playground equipment" to the list of ICCP
regulated products in order to provide additional protection for children health and
safety due to the hazards and many accidents caused by these products.
− Annulment of the requirement for annual renewal of registration and the fees
associated with it.
− Progressive enhancement of testing facilities manifested by the addition of 60
independent and globally approved laboratories to serve the program.
− Following recent agreement with the Saudi Customs, simplified procedures have been
introduced to allow regulated goods accompanied by ICCP certificates of conformity
to be cleared even more swiftly and with greater ease.
− A website on the program (http://www.icccp.com) has been introduced on the
Internet.
− Food products have been deleted from the program.  Thus, the ICCP currently covers
only 66 regulated product categories.
− The updated developed program was submitted in document WT/ACC/SAU/37 dated
17 September 1998 to all WTO members and those concerned.  They had theopportunity to state their comments within a period of 60 days in conformity with
WTO agreements.
− Some WTO Members commended the Kingdom's quick and positive responses
relating to ICCP issues.
The present status of the ICCP:
− There are 36 offices related to the program throughout the world with a view to
facilitate responses given through queries raised by exporters.
− There are over 200 accredited laboratories to serve exporters throughout the world.
− Over 170,000 conformity certificates have been issued to date.
− Over 3,000 companies from all over the world have registered in the program.
− Over 4,000 product have also been registered in the program.
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