First General Assembly of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC)
Date: 02-03 August 2010
Venue: Ankara - Türkiye

The First General Assembly of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) was convened in Ankara, Republic of Turkey, on 2-3 August 2010. Being the Turkish representative in the SMIIC General Assembly, the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) organised this Meeting, in cooperation with the OIC General Secretariat, as the Statute of SMIIC has entered into force through the ratification of ten OIC Member States of the OIC.

H.E. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, OIC Secretary General and H.E. Nihat Ergün, Turkish Minister of Industry and Trade, delivered speeches at the opening of the First General Assembly of SMIIC.

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the eleven OIC Member States, as Turkey has also ratified the Statute of SMIIC on 8 June 2010. The other ratifying countries are Algeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Jordan, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia. Representatives from the OIC General Secretariat, COMCEC, SESRIC, ICCI and IUT also attended the Meeting.

Short Background

The Statutes for SMIIC was adopted as per Resolution No. 1 of the 14th Session of the COMCEC held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, in November 1998. So far 16 OIC Member States signed the Statutes and 11 ratified it. The Statutes entered into force on 27 May 2010, following the deposition of instrument of ratification by Somalia.

According to the Provisions of the Statutes, SMIIC shall be an affiliated organ of the OIC and its Headquarters shall be located in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, where the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) will cover the expenses of SMIIC for the first three years of its establishment.

SMIIC, as a sound mechanism for harmonisation of standards/preparation of new ones among the OIC Member States, aims at achieving a set of objectives in this field. These include, among others, realising harmonised standards in the Member States and eliminating any factor relating to the standards, likely to affect adversely the trade among the Member States, establishing a certification scheme for the purpose of expediting exchange of materials, manufactured goods and products among the Member States begining with mutual recognition of certificates.

SMIIC also aims at achieving uniformity in metrology, laboratory testing and standardisation activities among the Member States and ensuring education and training and providing technical assistance to the Member States in the domain of standardisation and metrology. In doing so, SMIIC may cooperate with other international and regional organisations interested partially or wholly in standardisation, metrology or related activities.