Al-Qasabi: Private sector feedback is a step to support the components of the specifications
6 thousand products purchased by the authority to ensure conformity with standards
Al-Askar: More than one million consumer products have been registered on the Saber platform
Al-Khalidi: The citizen is aware of the level of efforts made to implement quality.
The Saudi Standards Authority emphasized standards and quality, the issue of partnership and complementarity with the private sector and relevant government institutions, for the sake of the integrity of the local market of non-conforming products, and support for industry, trade, and import alike.
The Governor of the Commission, Dr. Saad Al-Qasabi, said that the feedback from the private sector is a necessary and important issue in formulating the specifications adopted by the Authority to maintain the level of quality in the goods offered in the local market. Emphasizing the vital and effective participation of the private sector in formulating specifications and introducing its technical components.
Al-Qasabi said during a remote meeting moderated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asharqia Chamber of Abdul-Hakim bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khaldi on Sunday (5/7/2020) that the authority’s role revolves around seven areas, namely, “specifications, conformity, measurement and calibration, quality, laboratories, research, studies, and energy efficiency”. He explained that one of the tasks of the authority is to set and adopt "standard" standards and Saudi technical regulations for goods, products, and services, measuring and calibrating devices and to ensure their application, and to grant certificates of "conformity" to those specifications that are based on local or prepared products for export and imported products.
Al-Qasabi added that the authority seeks to develop and implement the national system for measurement, calibration, and supervision of its system in the Kingdom, and also grants the license to use the quality mark for local and imported products that meet Saudi standards.
He stated that one of the tasks is also to conduct reference tests on goods and products that fall within the scope of the commission’s work, knowing that the authority’s laboratories are a reference and not competing with private sector laboratories.
He said that the authority - in partnership with the private sector - developed its current strategy (2019-2023) that depends on several pillars that fall under each pillar number of goals, the most prominent of which are the promotion of quality culture and definition of added value and the positive impact of adopting the principles and systems of quality and spreading awareness With this culture among all beneficiaries, the second pillar is "directing and leading national standardization activities" in order to improve the authority's services for the industrial and commercial sector, enhance the competitiveness of the national economy, achieve national priorities, and integrate with public and private sector partners to build effective quality infrastructure, and enhance the authority's role in innovation In the fields of specifications, conformity, and measurement science, enhancing the mental image of the authority and establishing confidence in its work.
On the third pillar, Al-Qasabi said that the authority seeks to improve through participation in leading regional and global standardization activities, and also works to attract and maintain qualified competencies, and work to achieve operational excellence by directing the authority towards achieving financial self-sustainability ... stressing the issue of integration with partners To achieve these goals and establish those pillars, and that success is not achieved unless we have national competencies capable of leading such activities.
Until we reach a high level of quality, and we maintain our successes in this regard, Dr. Al-Qasabi sees the importance of strengthening the national quality infrastructure, which is an integrated system of public and private entities that works integrally to develop policies and the regulatory and legal framework for the development and implementation of the basic components of quality, which include building confidence In the national market and consumer protection, and promoting fair competitiveness in the national economy, enabling fair traders, improving access to markets, participating in global supply chains, and until this has to be monitored according to technical regulations in measurement, calibration, accreditation, conformity, and basic specifications.
He pointed out that the development of national infrastructure for quality and attention to it is an important factor for economic development (industrial and commercial), as without quality it will not be a sophisticated and sophisticated industry, and it will not be a fair trade that meets consumer demands. He pointed to the experiences of a number of countries, including Germany, whose data indicate Until the specifications generate economic benefits estimated at about 17 billion euros annually.
Within the framework of the development witnessed by the authority, Al-Kasabi said that with the beginning of this July, the authority's Saber platform was linked with the (Fasah) platform, and the aim of all of this is to serve the local merchant ... saying that Saber is an electronic platform that enables commercial establishments and local factories to register consumer products. And registration of conformity certificates required electronically for imported or manufactured goods and aims to facilitate the processes of clearing these products and raise the level of safe products from them in the Saudi market.
On that, the Saudi Deputy for Standards of Conformity and Quality, Eng. Saud bin Rashid Al-Askar stated that Saber was established to control the production chain from factories or outlets to the consumer, saying: We have registered one million consumer products on the platform, more than 25 thousand merchants, and about a quarter of a million certificates of conformity, and it has become the right of every professional trader and is committed to the requirements of quality and honest competition Whoever meets all the requirements can issue certificates corresponding to his merchandise very easily.
He stated that the matter was strengthened by linking with the national platform (Fassah), which contributes to enhancing the opportunity for the Kingdom's progress in the cross-border trade index by speeding up and facilitating the entry of consumer products to the local market, reducing paper documents while conducting the release and issuing the customs declaration, and checking the consignment conformity certificate automatically, reducing total costs for the importer and trader.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asharqia Chamber, Abdul-Hakim bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khaldi said that the path is long, and the quality of specifications we find is in front of our eyes, where we see a great improvement in the level of quality in the products offered in our local markets because we as citizens do not touch those efforts that are made for quality except During what we see on the market,
Al-Ammar added that we are proud of what has been achieved in the field of automation, especially in the areas of application of quality and standard specifications.
