The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), six countries that include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Office of Agricultural Affairs (OAA) in Dubai covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE (also known as the GCC-5).
Food Standards: Yemen joined the Gulf Standards Organization (GSO) in early 2010 to bring the number of GSO member countries to seven. Formerly, GSO consisted only of the 6 GCC member countries. GSO is responsible for developing food and other standards in the GCC. The GSO food standards committee has been actively updating GCC food standards. Over the past few years, the committee has been working to harmonize existing standards within the guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius, ISO and other international organizations. However, in some cases, differences still exist between some of the proposed new standards and existing international guidelines.
In theory, each GCC member should notify the WTO of a proposed new standard. However, typically, one or two member countries usually submit the notification. Interested parties who review these notifications should bear in mind that, while a notification may be submitted by a single GCC member, the proposed standard will eventually apply to all GCC member countries. Once a new standard is approved by the GSO food standards committee, each member country should officially adopt the standard, thus making it a national standard as well as a GSO standard.
The shelf life and labeling that were updated in 2007 are being reviewed by GSO member countries. These standards earlier replaced old versions that were issued in the nineties and were disputed among GCC member countries as well as other foreign countries. The current standards bring the GCC into closer compliance with the guidelines of Codex Alimentarius and, for the most part, offer more flexible requirements for importing foods from foreign markets.
