Doha: Qatar participated yesterday in the work of the 16th General Assembly of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), which is being held this year in Medina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The State of Qatar delegation was represented in the meeting by assistant Chairman of Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology (QS) Eng. Nawaf Ibrahim Al Hamad Al Mana. The meeting includes 45 Islamic countries and 14 specialised regional and international organisations.
The General Assembly, being concerned with the activities and work of the institute, at its current meeting, discussed a number of technical, financial and administrative issues of importance and impact on the general policy of the institute. It also presented and discussed several reports on the performance and achievements of the institute's general secretariat as well as the reports of the specialised technical councils for standardisation, accreditation and metrology.
The General Assembly also discussed and approved financial statements for the previous year and the estimated budget for the following year.
The idea of establishing an appropriate mechanism for standardization among Islamic countries was raised during the first meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) in 1984, until the adoption of the institute in 2010.
The institute, which was established in 1998 and is headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the specialised institutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and one of the highest levels of regional organisations for standardisation at the Islamic and Arab levels.
The institute aims to enhance cooperation and coordination between Islamic countries in the field of standardisation and the halal product specification sector as well as unify standard specifications to enable member states to achieve the economic benefit guaranteed by these specifications, to enhance cooperation and trade exchange, and to achieve consensus among member states in various fields of standardisation.
Qatar joined the membership of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries in 2017, during the session of the 12th meeting of the institute’s General Assembly.
