Preamble:

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to
establish cooperation and constructive working relations between
the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI),
Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Republic of China and GCC
Standardization Organization (GSO), representing GSO Members
(hereinafter jointly referred to as “ Parties ” and
individually referred to as a Party) in order to enhance
communication and coordination with a view to boost
standardization activities through harmonization of standards,
technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures as
applied by the Parties in accordance with the international
practices as outlined in the Annex III of the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Mission of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection,
Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Republic of China:

The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) under
the Ministry of Economic Affairs is the authority responsible
for standardization, metrology and product inspection in Taiwan.

The activities of the BSMI encompass the development of national
standards, the verification of weights and measuring
instruments, the inspection of commodities and the provision of
other certification or testing services.

In an effort to enhance industrial competitiveness, maintain
fair trade, and protect consumers as well as ensuring
sustainable economic development, the BSMI has been dedicated to
promoting standardization, metrology and inspection systems in
line with international practices.

These efforts provide a sound foundation for local industries
and government agencies to better tackle the impact and
challenges brought on by the process of globalization.

Mission of the GCC Standardization Organization:

The mission of GSO is to help the States of the Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) achieve the
objectives set forth in its Charter and in the GCC Economic
Agreement by unifying the various standardization activities and
following up application and compliance with the same in
cooperation and coordination with the standardization bodies in
the Member States in an endeavour to develop the production and
service sector, foster the intra-GCC trade, protect the
consumer, environment and the public health, and encourage the
GCC industries and agricultural production that would enhance
the GCC economy, maintain the achievements of the Members States
and minimize the technical trade barriers as envisaged by the
objectives of the GCC Common Market.

With the mutual intention of establishing cooperation,
consultation, sharing of expertise and training in the fields of
standardization, metrology, testing, quality, conformity
assessment and accreditation, the Parties have agreed to
accomplish the following:

Article 1
Objectives
The Parties seek to accomplish the following goals:
i- To promote communication between the Parties.
ii- To promote cooperation and exchange of information about
standardization and related activities between the
Parties.
iii- To coordinate stances in regional and international aren
as in relation to issues of common interests in the
field of standardization and its related activities.
iv- To promote mutual understanding of the roles, functions
and specialization of each Party.
v- To avoid duplication of work efforts where possible.
vi- To promote awareness in the field of accreditation.
vii- Exchange of notifications relating to all new proposed
regulations at early stage.
viii- Facilitate and increase the level of trade exchange
between the Parties.

Article 2
Standardization
i- The Parties undertake to harmonize, as far as possible,
in line with International Standard, the standard of the
products and services being traded between them, with a
view to boost their mutual trade.
ii- Exchanging catalogue of the standards and technical
regulations that are published by each Party.
iii- Exchanging information about the annual programmes and
plans of standard specifications and technical
regulations to be prepared by the standards technical
committees of the Parties.
iv- Exchanging information about the activities of
developing standards specifications and technical
regulations by each Party.
v- Considering the standard specifications issued by the
Parties as a main reference when preparing standards by
the Parties.

Article 3
Conformity Assessment
(Conformity Certificates, Metrology, Accreditation and Quality)
i- Exchanging information by the Parties about the issues
that relate to conformity assessment, metrology and
quality.
ii- Exchanging laws, regulations and legislation approved or
to be approved by each Party in the fields of conformity
assessment, metrology and accreditation.
iii- Working to eliminate the technical barriers that impede
enhancement of the trade exchange between the Parties
resulting from potential differences in the conformity
assessment procedures.
iv- The Parties seek to accomplish mutual recognition of
their applicable conformity certificates and quality
marks issued by the Parties in accordance with the
guides and documents of the specialized international
organizations.
v- Exchange of information about dangerous products or
those recalled from the markets of the Parties.

Article 4
Capacity Building and Exchange of Information
The parties undertake to cooperate in the following fields:
i- Organizing seminars, workshops, field visits, exchange
of experiences, and training courses in the fields of
standardization, metrology, conformity assessment,
accreditation and quality.
ii- Exchange of information about information technology
programmes and solutions, training programmes and
awareness campaigns in the field of standardization and
related activities including bulletins, periodicals,
studies and statistics.

Article 5
Exchange of Experts
The Parties agree to exchange experts with a view to enhance the
objective of this MOU to boost the activities relating to
standards, conformity assessment, quality, metrology and
accreditation.

Article 6
Expenses
Under this MOU all internal transport and subsistence of experts
will be covered by the host Party whereas international travel
of experts will be covered by the sending Party.

Article 7
General Provision
i- This MOU shall come into effect on the date of the last
signature and shall remain in effect for five years, and
is automatically renewable every five years unless one
of the Parties requests in writing its termination
giving six month's prior notice.
ii- Any issues arising from the interpretation or
implementation of this MOU will be settled through
consultations between the Parties or such other means as
they may mutually decide.
iii- The Parties agree to regularly review this MOU in order
to ensure that it meets its goals, and may be amended
and supplemented by mutual agreement for furthering the
cooperation.
iv- No amendment to this MOU is allowed by the Parties
without the prior written agreement of the other Party.
v- Each Party shall designate liaison officer who shall be
responsible for communication continuation on this MOU.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized
thereto, have signed this MOU.

Done in duplicate in English.


For the Bureau of For the GCC
Standards, Metrology Standardization
and Inspection, Organization
Ministry of Economic
Affairs, the Republic of
China
__________________ __________________
Dr. Ming Jong Liou Mr. Nabil A. Molla
Director General Secretary General

(date) Sep. 25, 2016 (date) 25th Sept. 2016
(place) Riyadh (place) Riyadh, KSA