Gulf Countries: New and Updated Requirements for Electronic and Electric Appliances

SAFEGUARDS | Electrical & Electronics NO. 053/17

Electrical and electronic appliances destined for sale/distribution in the Gulf countries must comply with a number of new requirements, including the GSO Conformity Tracking Symbol, as well updated requirements for HVAC and A/C units.

The Technical Regulation for Low Voltage Electrical Equipment and Appliances (BD-142004-01), which came into force on July 1, 2016, lays down the mandatory requirements for the safety and electromagnetic compatibility. Low-Voltage equipment in the scope of List (2) shall meet the Regulation before its placing on the market and shall be allowed to be freely distributed in the markets of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states.

GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) member states:

• United Arab Emirates
• Kingdom of Bahrain
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Sultanate of Oman
• State of Qatar
• State of Kuwait
• Republic of Yemen

The GSO Conformity Tracking Symbol (GCTS) was implemented on Januart 1, 2017 and becomes mandatory on April 1, 2017. A GCTS shall be affixed to product or its label, outer packaging and accompanying documents (such as the user instruction manual). The QR code will not be changed until the GC Type Examination Certificate expires.

Recently, the GSO has further clarified the scope of List (2). All HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Systems up to 70 KBTU shall obtain the GC Marking. New GCC standards GSO 2530/2016 and GSO 2531/2016 regarding Safety and Performance requirements of ACs has been published, GSO 2531/2016 Clause 4 safety requirement shall be considered in addition to GSO IEC 60335-2-40.

In GCC member state the United Arab Emirates, national standards UAE.S 5010-1:2016 and UAE.S 5010-5:2016 regarding product energy efficiency will come into force on August 1, 2017. Air conditioners shall be designed to adjust the controls varying the cooling temperatures not less than a temperature of 20°C.

SGS Gulf (NB 0002), Guangzhou (NB 0022), Shanghai (NB 0023), Hong Kong (NB 0008) are accredited as GCC Notified Body, SGS Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shunde laboratory are also GAC accredited laboratories. SGS can provide one-stop solutions to assist manufacturers and importers locally and quickly access the Gulf market.

For enquiries, please contact:

Sven DongTechnical Expert
Consumer Goods and Retail
Electrical & Electronics
t: +86 21 61915666

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