The GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) is a standards organization for the member states of the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. It was established under the authority of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Its full official name is "The Standardization Organization of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf". It is headquartered in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

and has a branch office in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

. Where no GSO standard already exists, it reviews existing global standards and may adopt them. The GSO's Technical Council mandated the creation of a regional

Metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

Organization to be called "GULFME". The GSO has also partnered with

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

. The current secretary-general of the GSO is H.E. Nabil A Molla. A previous secretary-general was Dr. Rashid Ahmed Muhammad Bin Fahad. As of 2010, the GSO has mandated some 2,700 standards. Implementation of these standards is the responsibility of individual member countries of the GCC.

Domains of standards

The GSO's standardization initiatives cover a wide range of domains. These include: *

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

*Fire protection * Halal foods * Cigars and cigarettes *

Food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

Bin Fahad, Dr. Rashid. Presentation. "The Role of GSO on GCC Food Safety". http://www.foodsafetydubai.com/resources/contentfiles/Prev-Conference/DIFSC03.pdf

GSO standards for cigarettes

The GSO has laid down clear standards with regards to two aspects of

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

– product content and labelling and

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

of tobacco packages. These are clearly specified in GSO 597/2009 which deals with technical regulation related to cigarettes and GSO 246/2011 which relates to the labelling of packages of tobacco products. Every draft regulation is given to a particular country out of the 6 GCC countries to be prepared and is then approved by the remaining 5 countries. For example, GSO 597/2009 was prepared by

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

while GSO 246/2011 was prepared by

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. It is GSO 246/2011 regulation that specifies all cigarette packs destined to be sold in GCC should have warnings covering 50% of the front and back principal areas and include from among a set of specified images and text comprising

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

on the front face and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

on the rear face.

References

External links

GSO official website (Arabic)GSO official website (English)GULFMET official website
{{authority control Organizations with year of establishment missing Standards organisations in Saudi Arabia International organizations based in the Middle East International economic organizations Intellectual property organizations Supranational unions Continental unions Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty Organisations based in Riyadh Organisations based in Jeddah Gulf Cooperation Council