ABU DHABI, 31st August: The Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC) said that the Conformity and Specification Services Sector issued 65 product conformity certificates and 67 renewal certificates during the first half of the year.
During the period, the Council also issued 2,985 individual services conformity certificates and completed 2,538 personnel services conformity certificate renewals, as well as 46 license renewals of Trust Mark, issuance of 12 licenses using the Trust Mark, and 20 product registration certificate applications.
Dr. Mazen Ali Naji, acting Executive Director of the Conformity and Specifications Sector said in a media briefing that the Council has issued over 43,270 conformity certificates for individual services since the start of the service in 2015. This indicates the Council’s commitment to continue developing a sustainable quality infrastructure that meets the needs of key sectors in Abu Dhabi, enhancing competitiveness and creating an attractive investment environment in targeted sectors by the Abu Dhabi government.
Mazen said developing the capabilities of the national quality infrastructure will enhance the competitiveness of the local industrial sector, leading to opening up new global markets for local products, in addition to attracting foreign investments. It will also create investment opportunities in the private sector, enhance fairness and safety of markets, and linking up with a global laboratory network for new testing capabilities in Abu Dhabi.
The indicators of the sector in the first half of the year reflect the Council's keenness in harmonizing technical documents and conformity programs to enhance the quality and competitiveness of Abu Dhabi’s goods and services, he said, adding that it helped raise the efficiency of workers and contributed to supporting partners in their work, mitigating any potential damage resulting from employing unskilled labor. The conformity programs also reflected positively on the national economy as it stresses skilled labor with capabilities in line with global standards.
There are many programs and services that have enhanced the performance of vital sectors in the emirate, contributing to rationalizing energy consumption, reducing environmental damage and ensuring a conducive economic environment for growth, Mazen said.
He said that the Council issued 354 technical documents, distributed 160 documents for the guidelines for the services infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, including for 10 main sectors as well as 127 documents related to Abu Dhabi professional requirements, 22 related to the Abu Dhabi Guideline, and 29 for Abu Dhabi Technical Standards and 5 Abu Dhabi Technical Reports.
Mazen said the Council issued commodity conformity certificates for about 2,546 products so far this year, contributing to raising the safety, quality and competitiveness of products at the local, regional and global levels.
Individuals' conformity assessments were conducted for about 20 professions and crafts based on the Council’s conformity programs in line with approved standards, in addition to adopting conformity programs for lifeguards of swimming pools and public beaches.
He said that the product conformity assessment team currently provides services for 27 types of products, including for building and construction materials, energy efficiency, environment, health and safety, and hundreds of brands now carry the Abu Dhabi Trust Mark for thousands of products.
The Individual Services Conformity Assessment Team’s services span school transportation, electricity, public health services, public waste management, and pest control and community safety. The Council’s individual matching programs helped achieve positive results from an economic point of view and contributed to reducing the costs associated with evaluating and employing workers for various contracting companies by 30%. It also helped in doubling the productivity levels in many sectors, and reducing operational costs.
Mazen said that in terms of the social impact, the Council’s programs have contributed to reducing accidents enhancing safety and ensuring the safety of tourists and residents by verifying the competencies of the lifeguards of basins, swimming pools and beaches.
He said the programs helped improve the capabilities of workers in environmental services, enhancing their awareness, improve the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of hazardous and medical waste by applying programs that conform to the norms in this sector, improving health, safety and environmental standards.
The Council’s initiatives contributed to raising the capabilities and efficiency of private sector laboratories. The Council also began registering and appointing conformity assessment bodies operating in Abu Dhabi, the number of which increased from 29% in 2013 to 84% in the second quarter of 2022.
Mazen also touched upon the cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology to register conformity assessment bodies in line with Cabinet Resolution No. 35 of 2015. The 194 registered conformity assessment bodies are represented by 64 testing laboratories and 22 entities that issue conformity certificates for individual programs, products and systems. There are also 67 inspection bodies and 41 calibration laboratories.
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