RIYADH, 7 April 2006 — The Director General of the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) Nabeel Mullah said on Wednesday that the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) was a chance for the organization to update its 35-year-old system of standards on units, measurements and industry. Mullah said the organization was mandating all of its efforts toward serving the interest of the national economy, mentioning that that it intends to increase the numbers of standards in the near future.
“The organization intends to boost its image as an organizational and technical body to serve the national economy,” he said after holding talks with members of the Eastern Province Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He said the Kingdom’s accession to the WTO was an opportunity for the organization to develop its system and to enhance its standards to be closer to global standards.
Standards are important for global commerce in numerous ways. For example, to export food products to the US requires companies to abide by the country’s food-labeling standards, which is regulated all the way down to the specific font and type size of the dietary information label. A product with a food label that doesn’t fit these standards can be denied access at the port of entry by inspectors, which can cost the supplier a considerable amount of money.
“We intend to increase the numbers of Saudi standards to comply with global standards and announce them to serve the interests of the national economy,” he added.
He said that the organization currently has 2,550 authorized standards for Saudi Arabia, compared to about 35,000 for Germany alone. There are about 500,000 global standards in the world.