Final Recommendations of the 5th GCC Laboratory Proficiency Conference

In the name of Allah most merciful

Final Recommendations of the 5th GCC Laboratory Proficiency Conference

Muscat, 26-27 February 2019

Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman, the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) organized the GCC Laboratory Proficiency Conference in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Oman, ISO, the GCC Accreditation Center, and ASTM International on 26-27 February 2019 in Muscat.

The 5th GCC Laboratory Proficiency Conference focused on the petroleum and petrochemical sector as one of the main economic sectors in the member countries. The conference has addressed, in eight scientific sessions, all aspects related to the infrastructure supporting the quality of laboratories.

Based on the submitted papers, interventions and discussions during the sessions, the conference comes up with following recommendations:

• Advocacy to support partnership between government agencies and the private sector to increase investments and expand private laboratories and conformity assessment services in priority areas in the Member States.
• Enhance quality infrastructure for laboratories in Member States through:

1. Intensifying technical capacity building programs for laboratory specialists in Member Countries.
2. Encouraging laboratories in member countries to obtain internationally recognized accreditation to prove the efficiency of laboratories and to benefit from the services provided by the Gulf Accreditation Center to raise the international recognition of their provided services.
3. Inciting laboratories in Member Countries and their technicians to participate in the qualification programs provided by (GSO) and (GAC) to ensure the preparation of competent Gulf cadres as technical and lead assessors.

• Call for cooperation between reference laboratories in Member Countries to achieve integration of efficiency of performance and exchange of experiences.
• (GSO) and the national standardization bodies (NSBs) should continue issuing standards in the field of petroleum and petrochemical products to meet the size of this sector in the Member Countries.
• Encourage the oil and petrochemical companies in the Member Countries to participate in the Gulf standardization committees for the petroleum and chemical products sector in order to achieve the preparation of standards to keep up with the development in this sector.
• Inviting Member Countries to review and enact legislation to support the laboratory sector operating in Member Countries, and work to strengthen the partnership between all parties related to quality infrastructure to contribute in the development of laboratory capacities and other conformity assessment organizations working in Member Countries, with the aim to enable them to realize their role as an essential potential for the Gulf economy by supporting trade facilitation and increasing the competitiveness of industry and guarantee the protection and safety of consumers.
• Encourage the laboratories working in Member Countries to benefit from the meteorological services provided by the Gulf Association for Meteorology (GulfMet) to enhance the efficiency of laboratories.
• Call on the laboratories working in the Member Countries to join Gulf Association for Laboratories (GCCLAB) as an entity in the Gulf charged of the development of quality infrastructure for laboratories in Member Countries.
• Encourage the laboratories of Member Countries to participate in the proficiency testing programs (PT) provided by GSO and inviting GSO to continue providing proficiency tests to meet the needs of laboratories operating in Member Countries.
• Encourage GSO to continue providing specialized qualification programs in the field of proficiency testing.
• Encouraging investment in the field of proficiency testing to improve the reliability of the services related to this activity and follow the Gulf trends in this process.
• Provide conformity assessment frameworks that support laboratories operating in Member Countries to strengthen regulatory efforts on oil and petrochemical products in Member Countries.
• Establish a subcommittee of the Gulf Group of Laboratories in the field of petrochemicals and petroleum products to manage the services necessary to strengthen the quality infrastructure of the laboratories and a platform to exchange the experiences and work in a regional framework that ensures the added value of the laboratories considering the accumulated experience of these laboratories.
• Expedite the preparation of the Gulf legislation to prove the conformity of the products traded through the e-commerce platforms, in order to facilitate trade and contribute the conservation of the rights of all parties and top priority consumers and study their potential impact on the services provided by laboratories operating in Member States.

In conclusion, the participants would like to express their thanks and appreciation to HE Dr. Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman, for his patronage of this conference and to GSO, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Oman and all its employees for the excellent organization of the conference. Our thanks and appreciation extend to experts and participants on their constructive interaction and rich discussions that contributed to the success of this conference.

والله الموفق

Issued in Muscat – Sultanate of Oman on February 27, 2019

5th GCC Laboratory Proficiency Conference