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FAQ
What is the idea of SMIIC?

The great majority of the Islamic countries are considered as non-industrialized economies, having as exportables only a limited number of primary commodities and/or raw materials.

Dependence on imports of manufactures and capital goods is overwhelming, as the limited numbers of industries that exist are small scale operations that produce a restricted spectrum of consumer and/or intermediate products. Because of the low level of technology used and its rather out-dated nature, industrial production is not so efficient and is relatively costly, arising only marginal benefits from the existing resources.

Despite the urgency of the situation, the positive changes in favour of the OIC member states on the global scene were rather small, especially during the recent years, the developed states have not been very eager to help the developing countries bilaterally or in terms of multilateral action.

On the other hand, standardization is a key element to push up the capacities of export and competition and is a necessary process for ensuring effectiveness in any product/service. Standards are important because they provide a common language among the buyers and sellers coming from a large variety of cultures.

It’s highly important to conduct the activities to harmonize the standards and conformity assessment procedures under the auspices of an international or regional organisation. Therefore, it has been necessary to take steps in order to establish of a powerful standardization infrastructure between OIC member states.


What is the role and responsibility of SMIIC Board of Directors?

The Board of Directors of the SMIIC is the organ entrusted with the supervision of the execution of the programs, plans and activities of the Institute. The Board of Directors comprises of thirteen members, including the host country as the permanent member, elected by the General Assembly, on the basis of an equitable geographic distribution, for a term of three years. Any member of the Board may be re-elected for successive terms.

The Board shall elect a chairman and three vice-chairmen among its members for a term of three years re-electable for successive terms.

The Board of the Directors shall hold at least two meetings every year. The Board of Directors shall be responsible before the General Assembly. The meetings of Board of Directors shall be executed in accordance with the procedures defined in Rules of Procedure.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the followings: 

  • Admission or expulsion of new SMIIC members in accordance with the Statute and Rules of Procedure,
  • Oversee the performance of all councils along with approval of their Terms of References,
  • Recommendation of the mission, vision and values of the Institute,
  • Monitoring the implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Institute,
  • Approval of the accounts of the ended accounting year and the budget of the following year and submission to the approval of the General Assembly,
  • Approval of the Terms of References of the SMIIC organs,
  • Defining the job descriptions of SMIIC staff,
  • Election of Chairman and Vice Chairmen of Board of Directors and the members of the Standardization Management Council,
  • Approval to the appointment of Assistant Secretary General, and the Chairs of Councils,
  • Observing the interest of the all SMIIC members while taking any decisions.

What is a technical committee (TC)?

The primary duty of a Technical Committee is the development and systematic maintenance of the OIC/SMIIC Standards according to related activities within a particular scope of work (e.g.: TC 1 Halal Food Issues, TC 5 Tourism and Related Services, TC 9 Textiles and Related Products, TC 11 Halal Management System, etc.).

A Technical Committee (TC) is a technical decision making body with precise title, scope, strategic business plan and work programme, established in the SMIIC. A TC essentially manages the preparation of SMIIC deliverables - in accordance with an agreed business plan.

A Technical Committee is composed of a chairman, a secretary and TC members from national bodies of SMIIC Member States. The national delegations are designated by the SMIIC members. OIC/SMIIC standards are developed by experts, within TCs. TCs are made up of representatives of industry, NGOs, governments and other stakeholders, who are put forward by SMIIC’s members. Each TC deals with a different subject.

SMIIC’s full members (member bodies) can decide if they would like to be a participating member (P-member) of a particular TC or an observing member (O-member). P-members participate actively in the work and have an obligation to vote on all questions submitted to vote within the technical committee. O-members follow the work as observers; they receive committee documents and have the right to submit comments and to attend meetings, but cannot vote within the committee.

The operation of SMIIC TCs is largely governed by the SMIIC Directives, Part 1 Procedures for the Technical Work.

Secretariats of TC are important duties that has to be performed responsibly for the successful administration of standardization process. A member body which has been assigned to the secretariat post, by mutual agreement, has the responsibility for providing technical and administrative services to a TC or SC. Secretary is the person who manages the technical and administrative services provided. Secretaries are responsible for all operation, documentation and future activities of the TCs.


What is the contribution(membership fee) for membership?

The annual contributions for the Member States are determined by the General Assembly in such a way that their amount covers the expenditure provided by the budget in accordance with the procedure defined in SMIIC Financial Regulations.

The Calculation of SMIIC Scale:

- The last three year average for Gross National Income (GNI) values of each SMIIC member is calculated.

- The last three year average for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) values of each SMIIC member is calculated.

- The GNI values calculated above of each member are summed up to get the TOTAL GNI value.

- The GDP values calculated above of each member are summed up to get the TOTAL GDP value.

- The formula “(GNI / TOTAL GNI)*100” gives the GNI percentage of each SMIIC member over the TOTAL GNI.

- The formula “(GDP / TOTAL GDP)*100” gives the GDP percentage of each SMIIC member over the TOTAL GDP.

SMIIC Scale = (GNI member state percentage + GDP member state Percentage) / 2

The allocation of mandatory contributions to SMIIC Member States shall be follows:

  • The Host Country shall cover the 40% of the SMIIC Budget. 
  • Each Member of the Board of Directors shall cover 0,5% of the SMIIC Budget resulting a total of 6,5%
  • The remaining 53,5% of contribution shall be distributed to the all SMIIC Member States except the host country according the SMIIC Scale 

The Host Country Support

40%

BOD Membership

(% 0,5 for each 13 member of the BOD)

6,5%

Remaining Contribution

according to SMIIC Scale

except the host country

53,5%

TOTAL

100%


What is the Accreditation Council (AC)?

 

Accreditation Council (AC) is the organ carrying out activities aimed at the establishment of an accreditation scheme in the OIC Member States. AC is responsible for supporting actions for establishing a sound accreditation system OIC-wide and raise awareness of accreditation concept within the Member States.

AC shall be responsible for implementing OIC/SMIIC accreditation standards and performing peer assessment.

AC consists of members from national accreditation bodies authorized by the Member States and Observers of SMIIC.

The chair and 12 members from national accreditation bodies authorized by the Member States shall be appointed or elected by the Board of Directors for the management of AC, on the basis of an equitable geographic distribution, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

AC will form accreditation technical committees (ATC) to implement accreditation related policies/projects/programs in line with the SMIIC Strategic Plan. Membership of ATC is open to all Member States.

The chair of AC shall be elected by the members of AC in accordance with the procedures defined in Rules of Procedure and approved by the Board of Directors. AC shall prepare annual work plan in line with the SMIIC Strategic Plan and report the progress to the Board of Directors.

The method and principles of the administration of AC shall be defined in Rules of Procedure. It shall operate according to Terms of Reference document which shall be approved by the Board of Directors.


What is the idea of SMIIC about Halal Certification?

When we look at current situation from halal standardization point of view, it can be easily seen that many different halal standards exist in the world and certification according to those halal standards are applied in contravention to basic economic principle as the removal of technical barriers to trade among countries while Muslim Countries using halal food standards are expected to share and transfer their experience which may result as a great synergy throughout Islamic Countries.

There is a need for a common halal standard in order to ensure trust and safety both throughout the value creation chain and for the consumers focused on the entire food chain and not merely on parts of it, such as production.

SMIIC addresses to standardization, conformity assessment and accreditation aspects of Halal both in terms of religious and technical perspectives. There are OIC/SMIIC Halal standards which provides a comprehensive solution for the conformity assessment and accreditation of Halal. SMIIC standards are based on Islamic rules and principles as well as the standards of global standardization organizations. OIC/SMIIC standards refer to ISO/IEC and Codex standards and they are in line with international standards. SMIIC is about to finalize the establishment of accreditation mechanism enabling a trustworthy certification system that is based on intergovernmental accreditation so that halal products can move freely on global scale based on OIC/SMIIC standards and related reference documents.


What are the expectations of SMIIC from Member States of OIC?

SMIIC, by taking into consideration the needs of OIC Member States will continue to take active position in all related standardization, metrology and accreditation activities in addition to conformity assessment as well as focusing on capacity building, training etc..

SMIIC aims to set common standards that are applied across the whole of the OIC as a single market where SMIIC ensures the protection of consumers, facilitate cross-border trade, ensure the interoperability of products, encourage innovation and technological development, include environmental protection and enable businesses to grow.

While doing that, the Institute will focus on technical improvement and capacity building and play a directive function to guide the investment on laboratory etc. and equal distribution of mentioned plans in OIC Member States.

SMIIC is ready to cooperate with sister OIC institutions which have various mandates with regards to the industry, science and technology, economic development etc. in coordination with OIC General Secretariat.

 SMIIC shall be supported in a way that:

  • It shall take active position in all related standardization, metrology and accreditation activities in addition to conformity assessment as well as focusing on capacity building, training etc. taking into consideration the needs of OIC Member States.
  • It shall have the role of setting common standards that are applied across the whole of the OIC as a single market where SMIIC ensures the protection of consumers, facilitate cross-border trade, ensure the interoperability of products, encourage innovation and technological development, include environmental protection and enable businesses to grow.
  • It shall foster the OIC economy in global trading, the welfare of Muslim community and the environment by providing a platform for the development of OIC/SMIIC standards and other technical specifications across a wide range of sectors as well as the metrology and accreditation to verify—against OIC/SMIIC standards—organizations that carry out evaluation services such as certification, verification, inspection, testing and calibration.
  • It shall keep up to date its operations and provide proactive solutions in technical field for the OIC Member States which will be mostly the emerging countries in near future by the political support of OIC Member States.
  • It shall work on all elements of quality infrastructure as standardization, metrology and accreditation prioritizing the needs of OIC Member States.
  • It shall focus on technical improvement and capacity building and should play a directive function to guide the investment on laboratory etc and equal distribution of mentioned plans in OIC Member States.
  • It shall closely work with especially sister OIC institutions which have various mandates with regards to the industry, science and technology, economic development etc. in coordination with OIC General Secretariat