GCC certification

GCC stands for Gulf Cooperation Council. The Gulf Cooperation Council was established on May 25, 1981 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Its member countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Kingdom of Bahrain, and Yemen. The General Secretariat is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The highest authority is the Supreme Council, composed of the heads of state of member countries, and the President is rotated by the heads of state for a term of one year. The political and economic systems of the six countries are similar, and the royal family is closely connected. They share common interests in politics, economy, diplomacy, national defense, and other aspects, making them an important political and economic organization in the Middle East region.

The total area of GCC member countries is 2.67 million square kilometers, with a population of about 34 million. In 2003, the total GDP was about 380 billion US dollars, with the main resources being oil and natural gas. It is an important regional organization in the Middle East region. The GCC six countries are located in the transportation hubs of the eastern and western hemispheres, with very important strategic geographical positions. It borders Iraq and Jordan to the north, Yemen and the Arabian Sea to the south, the Arabian Gulf to the east, and the Red Sea to the west. The vast majority of the territory is desert, with a tropical desert climate.

Foreign trade plays a very important role in the national economy of the GCC six countries. Due to its single economic structure, apart from oil and petrochemical products, most of the other living and production needs rely on imports. The total annual import and export trade volume is about 240 billion US dollars, with the main export countries being the United States, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries, and the main import countries being the European Union, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia and other countries.

According to the decision made by the GCC Standards Organization (GSO) at the Kuwait Ministerial Meeting on October 12, 2004, starting from January 1, 2005, GSO will inspect motor vehicles and tire products in accordance with relevant Gulf standards and issue GCC certification certificates. The approved GCC certificate will be valid in all GCC member countries.

【General Situation】

In May 2009, the GSO Board of Directors held its tenth meeting and reached a unanimous resolution on GCC Conformity Marking. Require all regulated products to be labeled with the GCC Conformity Marking logo, as these products with the GCC Conformity Marking logo can circulate and trade more quickly and conveniently in GCC member countries. All products with this label must not only meet basic health, safety, and environmental requirements, but also meet the requirements of relevant GSO standards and regulations applicable to the products.

【Identification Representation】

GCC conformity mark identification representation

1) The product enterprise meets the requirements of GCC regulations.

2) Products labeled meet the requirements of GCC regulations.

3) The product should not only meet safety, public health, consumer protection and other requirements, but also comply with GSO regulations.

4) The legal representative or enterprise is responsible for products bearing the GCC Conformity Marking logo and promises that the product complies with all applicable GSO regulatory requirements, and has also passed the conformity assessment process.

5) In order to have multiple applicable GCC technical regulations, GCC Conformity Marking indicates that the product complies with all applicable regulations. These regulations should be reflected on product labels and nameplates accordingly.

6) Except for exempted products due to special economic reasons or administrative measures, all regulated products must be labeled with the GCC Compliance Marking label before entering the GCC market. Exempted products only apply to products that are harmless to health, safety, and related operability, and these exempted products must be notified to all Gulf member states by the GSO.

7) The pattern of GCC Conformity Marking should not be too large or too small, and should be related to technical regulations.

8) If the relevant regulations stipulate the size of the GCC Conformity Marking label, the height of the label is required to be greater than 5mm.

9) The GCC Conformity Marking logo should appear in an appropriate location based on the nature of the product, such as fixed or printed on product labels, or printed on product packaging or on closed documents in accordance with regulatory requirements.

10) GCC Conformity Marking requires clarity, readability, and resistance to wear and tear.

11) The GCC Conformity Marking logo is produced and pasted during the finished product stage.

12) The GCC Conformity Marking identification must carry the identity code of the notified body

13) No other deceptive identification similar to or identical to the GCC Conformity Marking identification is allowed.

14) The GCC Conformity Marking logo can appear simultaneously with other national or international logos, as long as these logos do not confuse the GCC Conformity Marking and do not restrict or damage the readability of the GCC Conformity Marking logo.

15) The GCC Conformity Marking logo can be made and pasted by the manufacturer, agency, or GCC marketing responsible person for the product.

16) The manufacturer or the agency of the GCC member needs to issue a statement stating that the enterprise meets the relevant regulatory requirements for formal inspection and quality control system before making and pasting the GCC conformity marking mark.

17) Declare that the product complies with the basic requirements and conditions stipulated in GCC technical regulations. Or declare that the product is consistent with the sample tested by the notified agency.

18) Unless otherwise specified in GCC regulations, all declaration documents shall be maintained for at least 10 years.

19) The declaration and label should include at least the following content:

A. The name of the manufacturer or the name of the agency in GCC country;

B. Product identity characteristics, such as product name, model, model code, and serial number, and similar data.

C. The standards, regulations, and technical guidelines adopted in product design and production;

D. Product grade or category (electrical appliances);

E. The person responsible for the product and their signature (manufacturer or legal agent of GCC member countries);

F. Declaration document - This document states the responsibility of the manufacturer or legal agent;

G. The identity of the signatory of the manufacturer or agency;

20) The declaration file can contain other information, such as the name and address of the inspection and testing institution, and the name and address of the personnel responsible for the product.

To prevent a product from having multiple applicable GCC technical regulations, the manufacturer may issue a statement that includes all GCC technical regulations that the product meets.

22) The declaration document can be provided to the market research and control agencies of GCC member countries at any time.

【GCC Certificate】

According to the form of extension, the new standard items need to be retested and submitted to GSO together with the GCC certificate. GSO reserves the right to view other test reports and original data of this vehicle model. All experimental data must come from the company's own laboratory or from an independent laboratory recognized by GSO.

1) For models that have already been certified and have been granted GCC certificates, the manufacturing enterprise must resubmit the original GCC certificate of conformity and the test reports and original data of the newly added test items to the GSO head office.

2) For new vehicle model manufacturers applying for certification, they must submit a certificate of conformity that meets the requirements of GCC certification to GSO and submit a test report that meets the requirements of GSO. Before the first shipment each year, the manufacturer shall submit a certificate of conformity in English/Arabic to GSO, proving that the model meets the requirements of Gulf Vehicle Standards.

3) Manufacturers of semi-finished vehicles (such as chassis) shall also submit a certificate of conformity written in English/Arabic to GSO in advance before shipping the first batch of goods of any type each year, and at least submit a certificate of conformity written in English/Arabic to the standardization and metrology organization of GCC countries in advance, proving that these vehicles have been completed in accordance with the guidelines of semi-finished vehicle manufacturers and still meet the requirements of relevant vehicle bay standards.

【Certification Procedures】

1. Complete the GCC certification consultation form and submit an application to the consulting company;

2. Enterprises shall conduct testing on motor vehicles and tire products in a laboratory recognized by GCC in accordance with the methods and requirements of relevant Gulf standards;

3. The consulting company assists enterprises in producing technical and certification documents that need to be submitted to GSO based on testing data;

4. GSO will review the documents submitted by the enterprise. If the review is qualified, GSO will issue a GCC certification certificate to the enterprise. If the review is not qualified, GSO will notify the enterprise that the application has not been approved and inform them of the reason;

5. After the expiration of the validity period of the GCC certification certificate, it is necessary to create a new application for extension and apply for a new GCC certificate.

【Program】

Starting from January 1, 2010, all enterprises applying for GCC certificates must submit an ECCS electronic registration application in advance. Only after passing ECCS can they continue to apply for certificates!

For models that have already been certified and have been awarded GCC certificates, the manufacturing enterprise must submit two new original GCC certificates of conformity to the GSO Head Office, but does not need to resubmit test reports and original data.

For new vehicle manufacturers applying for certification, they must submit two original copies of the certificate of conformity that meets the requirements of GCC certification to GSO, and submit a test report that meets the requirements of GSO. At least three months before the first delivery of any model of vehicle each year, the manufacturer shall submit a certificate of conformity in English/Arabic to GSO, proving that the model meets the requirements of Gulf Vehicle Standards (content and format comply with regulations). Manufacturers of semi-finished vehicles (such as chassis, etc.) shall submit a certificate of conformity written in English/Arabic to GSO at least three months in advance before shipping the first batch of goods of any type each year, proving that such vehicles meet the requirements of relevant Gulf standards. Before shipping the first batch of goods of any type each year, the final stage manufacturer (such as the complete vehicle) shall submit a certificate of conformity written in English/Arabic to the standardization and metrology organization of GCC countries at least two months in advance, proving that such vehicles have been completed in accordance with the guidelines of the semi-finished vehicle manufacturer and still meet the requirements of relevant vehicle bay standards (content and format comply with regulations).

At this stage, it is not necessary to submit the original test data, but if necessary, GSO reserves the right to view the test report and the original data. All experimental data must come from the manufacturer's own laboratory or from an independent laboratory recognized by GSO.

For tire product production enterprises, they must submit GCC certificate of conformity (two original drafts) to GSO, and submit test reports and original test data that meet the format and content requirements of GCC.

The GSO organization will review the certification materials and test reports submitted by the enterprise, and decide whether to approve or reject the application for this whole vehicle/tire product. After successfully passing the GSO review, a catalog number will be assigned to the submitted certificate of conformity; If the audit result is rejected, the production enterprise will be informed of the reason for rejection. GSO will stamp and sign the GCC certificate, and return an original certificate to the production enterprise. The remaining original copies will be kept in the GSO customer file.

【Matters Needing Attention】

1）It is important to understand the relevant procedures for GCC certification before formal application. Due to the validity period of GCC certification being one year and the requirement to submit application materials at least three months in advance, GSO has a summer vacation of up to three months each year. Therefore, Chinese companies should pay special attention to the timing of GCC certification.

2）The key to obtaining GCC certification for Chinese automotive products lies in mastering some special requirements of GCC certification, especially focusing on projects that are different from China's mandatory standards or have more strict restrictions, such as engine cooling systems, interior space and luggage compartment capacity of buses, installation positions and markings, material requirements for components such as brake pads and batteries, special requirements for power control systems and exhaust systems.

3）Chinese automotive companies should try to entrust laboratories recognized by the GSO organization for testing and testing. The format of the test report should meet the requirements, and the test cycle should meet the reasonable cycle deemed by the GSO organization. Original record materials should be retained.

4）When Chinese vehicles undergo GCC certification, they must undergo adaptive modifications to adapt to the high temperature, dusty, and humid environment requirements of the Middle East region throughout the year. The engine cooling system of cars exported to Middle Eastern countries should be resistant to high temperatures and have strong off-road performance, as the summer temperature in the Gulf region can reach as high as 40-50 ℃, and the winter temperature is also maintained at around 20C. The vehicle should be equipped with a large water tank to enhance the engine's heat dissipation through the circulation of large water flow. Using large fans, batteries, generators, and high-power air conditioning (without heating); Using wide tires, adding a layer of fabric to the tires for high temperature resistance, using windproof sand paint to improve the surface hardness of the car, four-wheel drive to enhance off-road performance; Improve the interior decoration of the car.

5）The configuration and interior of the vehicle should conform to the regional culture and demand characteristics (Arabic description, interior that conforms to Islamic cultural characteristics, large luggage space).

6）Strengthen the after-sales service of vehicles.

【Validity Period】

The GSO organization has made relevant regulations on the validity inspection of GCC certificates of conformity: for whole vehicle products, the validity inspection of the certificate for the current model year is carried out in the last month of each calendar year; For tire products, a certificate validity check shall be conducted in the year of approval. Before the expiration of the validity period, the production enterprise must submit relevant composite certification materials to the GSO organization. If it is not submitted by the deadline, the GCC certification certificate will become invalid and invalid.