Emirates Authority For Standardization and Metrology

Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology
ESMA is a Federal UAE Authority, established by UAE Federal Law (28),

2001. As the only reference in the UAE in terms of quality standards, ESMA's
strategy aims at supporting the national economy by establishing a new era of
excellence and quality.
Standardization:
ESMA has established Technical Committees in the fields of food products,
construction and building materials products, electrical and electronic
products, chemical and plastic products, mechanical products, petroleum
products and lubricants, and metrology and information technology.
Accreditation:
The Emirates National Accreditation System (ENAS) contributes to the
prosperity of the national economy including:
 ensuring competence of conformity assessment bodies (CABs)

operating in the UAE.
 building confidence in conformity results issued by accredited CABs.
 agreeing on mutual recognition agreements (MRA) with international
organizations working in this field.
Conformity Assessment:
ESMA is implementing the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS)
and the Emirates Quality mark (EQM). Under this scheme, local and imported
products are verified for compliance against National Standards.
Metrology:
The National Measurement System (NMS) gives ESMA the authority:
 to establish, keep, maintain, and continuously improve the national

measurement standards
 to provide the necessary advice and support to the government,
industry, commerce and the public on metrological issues.
 to carry out or delegate technical work and coordination in legal
metrology.
Only ESMA approved goods to be sold in
UAE
Steps will ensure new standards are set for all consumer goods available
Published: May 13, 2015 18:10anjana kumar, staff reporter
Expert view. Abdullah Al Maeeni feels the UAE will have ESMA
approved products by next month.Image Credit: Clint Egbert/XPRESS
DUBAI The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) is
working on a number of new standards for the UAE. XPRESS talks to
Abdullah Al Maeeni, acting director general who explains in detail steps taken
by ESMA to define standards for consumer goods sold in the country.
Excerpts from an interview
What new standardisations is ESMA working on at the moment?
We are setting standards for water fixtures in the UAE. By June this year, all
agents and distributors will only sell ESMA approved fixtures. They will be
tested for their water output levels and graded accordingly by us. Those with a
lower output will be given a higher grading and vice versa. The way the test is
done is that we measure the water flow for a minute from every tap and
shower. Those with an output of 4 litres and less get a higher rating of two
stars. Those with an output of 6 litres get one star. The idea is to economise
water consumption in the UAE and it starts from the taps and showers we use.
We are expecting to save around 60 per cent of water by using these products.
What about electrical appliances?
We already have regulations in place for washing machines, refrigerators and

water heating products. Dishwashers and AC units are being added to our list
of appliances. All appliances are checked by us for their energy efficiency and
accordingly graded between one and five stars. The better the efficiency, the
higher will be our grading. Distributors sell only ESMA approved appliances
carrying our logo. They are aware of our procedures and understand that all
their appliances have to comply with our standards. If you visit Carrefour you
will find ESMA logos there. When customers buy an appliance they must look
for our logo. This way they will be buying a product which is energy efficient.
What steps are you taking to monitor car imports?
We are making progress in this area. We are liaising with a number of car
exporting countries to the UAE to provide information on their vehicles. This
is to ensure that buyers importing cars have all the necessary information
about the vehicle before purchasing it. We have signed an agreement with
USA and all American cars can now be checked through our mobile
application. One simply has to put the chassis number of the vehicle and the
entire history of the car will be available. We have been seeing that a lot of
customers in the UAE have been cheated while importing cars. Without a
proper vehicle history, they end up spending more money to try and fix the
car. We don’t want the UAE to become a garbage dump for vehicles.
For some time there has been talk of RFID tracking systems for
tyres in the UAE. Tell us more about it.
By end of the year all new tyres sold in the UAE will have the RFID (Radio
frequency Identification) tracking system. The process has already started.
The way it works is all tyres will have an RFID transponder embedded inside
so they can be tracked electronically. The transponder will have all
information about the tyre like the date of manufacture and expiry.
Right now you will still find tyres sold without the RFID tracker. However,
agents bringing new tyres to the market will come with the tracker. People
must check for the RFID sticker when buying new tyres.
It is mandatory for only halal cosmetics to be sold in the UAE. What

efforts is ESMA taking to ensure these are genuine?
We are closely monitoring the cosmetic industry in the UAE. Those claiming
to sell halal cosmetics have to show their halal mark. Only ESMA-approved
cosmetics have to be sold in the UAE. This applies to any international
cosmetic brand. We want to make sure people are not freely using the word
‘halal’ to sell cosmetics. We are coordinating with other government bodies
like the Ministry of Interior, Dubai Economic Department who are conducting
checks at various cosmetic shops in the UAE to ensure only ESMA certified
products are sold.
On our part, we test all cosmetics in laboratories before certifying them. We

mainly check for heavy metals and strong chemical content in the cosmetics.
So far we have issued over 600 certificates to agents and distributors.
Tell us about the halal industry.
Internationally the halal market is $2.3 trillion. Sixty-seven per cent is related
to food and 27 per cent to cosmetics. In 2013, Dubai’s halal food and beverage
market touched $1.1 trillion. During the Gulf Food we launched a new halal
logo. It is not easy for anyone to get our halal stamp as we have a very
comprehensive system in place. It is one of the best in the world.

Emirates Authority For Standardization and Metrology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Emirates Authority For Standardization and Metrology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Emirates Authority For Standardization and Metrology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology

ESMA is a Federal UAE Authority, established by UAE Federal Law (28),

 ensuring competence of conformity assessment bodies (CABs)

 to establish, keep, maintain, and continuously improve the national

Published: May 13, 2015 18:10anjana kumar, staff reporter

Excerpts from an interview

What new standardisations is ESMA working on at the moment?

We already have regulations in place for washing machines, refrigerators and

What steps are you taking to monitor car imports?

It is mandatory for only halal cosmetics to be sold in the UAE. What

On our part, we test all cosmetics in laboratories before certifying them. We

Tell us about the halal industry.

You might also like