Volume 3| Issue 02| April – June 2017

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Newsletter of the South Asian Regional Standards Organization

A Specialized Body of SAARC

SARSO PUBLICATIONS

SARSO Publishes three SAARC Standards related to Food Quality and Safety

The South Asian Regional Standards Organization, a specialized body of SAARC has published its first following three

SAARC Standards related on food quality and safety on 11 May 2017. These regional Standards are developed by

Sectoral Technical Committee, STC 01: Food and Agricultural Products. The Fifth Meeting of the Governing Board of

SARSO on the recommendation of the fourth meeting of the Technical Management Board

of SARSO approved as SAARC Standards.

1. SARS 0006:2017 SAARC Standards on Biscuits – Specification

2. SARS 0007:2017 SAARC Standards on Refined Sugar – Specification

3. SARS 0008:2017 SAARC Standards on Code of Hygienic Practice for Dairy Industry

These foods related SAARC Standards address the microbiological requirements as well as

other physical requirements along with test methods. SAARC Standards on Biscuits cover

all type of biscuits except wafer biscuits, sugar-free biscuits, diet biscuits and Special

purpose biscuits including High Energy biscuits. Apart from microbiological and physical

requirements, this regional Standard also has requirements related to packaging, marking,

labeling and sampling of biscuits. ISO, AOAC and National Standards have been made as reference for microbiological

and physical test. SAARC Standards on refined sugar cover the requirements and the methods of sampling and test for

refined sugar. This Standard is aligned with the Codex Standard for sugars and the method of test have been aligned

with the international commission for uniform methods of sugar analysis and AOAC. This regional Standard also has

requirements related to packaging, marking, labeling and sampling of refined sugar. SAARC Standard on Code of

Hygienic Practice for Dairy Industry is based on the codex Standard on Code of Hygienic Practice for Milk and Milk

product and this code applies to the to the production, processing and handling of milk and milk products. Where milk

products are referred to in the Code it is understood that this term also includes composite milk products. This Code

does not extend to the production of raw drinking milk. The provisions of this Code are supplemental to and should be

used in conjunction with, the SAARC Standard on Food Hygiene – General Principles – Code of Practice (under

development).

These SAARC Standards is the first step in fulfilling the aim of the SAARC Member States to develop harmonized

Standards for the South Asia region to facilitate intra-regional trade and have to access in the global market. These

SAARC Standards is also a contribution in meeting rising demand of safe and good quality food for the people of South

Asia.

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SARSO STC CHAIRPERSONS

The Fourth Meeting of the Technical Management Board after approval by the Fifth Meeting of the Governing Board

of SARSO appointed the following experts as Chairpersons of the SARSO’s Sectoral Technical Committees (STC) for

tenure of three years with effect from 01 March 2017:

1. STC-01 : Food and Agricultural Products

Professor Ram Rajasekharan Director, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI)

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Mysore, India

2. STC-02 : Jute, Textiles and Leather Products

Prof. (Dr.) Swapan Kumar Ghosh Professor and Head, Department of Jute and Fibre Technology Institute of Jute Technology Kolkata, India

3. STC-03 : Building Materials

Mr. Sunanada Fernando Director (Engineering Standards) Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) Colombo, Sri Lanka

4. STC-04 : Electrical, Electronics, Telecom and IT

Dr. Gulzar Ahmed Memon Institutional and Capacity Development Expert M/s. Techno Consult International Karachi, Pakistan

The Chairperson will act in a purely international capacity responsible for the overall management of that STC. The

Chairperson will ensure the appropriate and consistent implementation and application of the committee’s strategic

business plan to the activities of the STC ‘S work program. He/she will advise the TMB on important matters relating to

that STC.

ARC AGRICULTURE TRADE FORU

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AWARENESS WORKSHOP ON ISO 14001 AND ITS IMPACT ON

ENVIRONMENT AND TRADE

The SARSO in collaboration of Bangladesh Standard

and Testing Institution (BSTI), Bangladesh with the

support of SESA programme organized a awareness

workshop on ‘Importance of ISO 14001 and its impact

on environment and trade’, on 24 April 2017 at SARSO

Secretariat, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The program was

funded by the Swedish International Development

Cooperation Agency (SIDA) under the management of

the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS). Mr. Md. Saiful

Hasib, Director General, BSTI was the chief guest of the

programme. The workshop gave opportunities to

Bangladeshi stakeholders for understanding

international standards ISO 14001:2015 that provides

framework in improving environmental performance

through more efficient use of resources and reduction

of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the

trust of stakeholders. The seventy one (71) workshop

participants represented over 37 organizations,

including policy makers, regulators, exporters,

consumers, environmentalists, universities and non-

for-profit organizations participated in the awareness

workshop.

Mr. Indu Bikram Joshi, Director SARSO welcomed and

briefed the participants about the purpose of

awareness workshop including SARSO activities. Mr.

Md. Saiful Hasib, Director General, BSTI in his key note

speech stated that Standards are strategic tools and

guidelines for helping companies to tackle some of the

most demanding challenges of modern business and

relevant environment Standards could enormously

help and guide to manage our environment. The

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resource persons included, Dr. Fazle Rabbi Sadeque

Ahmed, Director, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation

(PKSF), not-for-profit organization, Bangladesh; Mr.

Masud Iqbal Shamim, Director, Department of

Environment, Government of Bangladesh; Mr. Md.

Nurul Islam, Deputy Director, BSTI; Mr. Indu Bikram

Joshi, Director and Mr. Tashi Wangchuk, Deputy

Director, SARSO; Mr. Philip Proctor, Managing Director

and Dr. Muhammad Abbasuddin, Principal Engineering

Consultant, REED Consulting Bangladesh Ltd, a not-for-

profit organization working in Bangladesh. The

resource persons presented the environmental issues

in Bangladesh; applicable environmental laws in

Bangladesh; key features as well as brief explanation

and benefits of implementation of International

Standards ISO 14001:2015; and impact of environment

on trade. A study on ‘Eco Manufacturing in industry

sector of Bangladesh’ conducted by REED Consulting

Bangladesh Ltd was also shared.

SARSO PARTICPATES IN THE REGIONAL TRAINING ON ENHANCING

CAPACITY FOR SPS MEASURES HELD IN KATHMANDU

Mr. Khawja Gulam Mohiuddin, Deputy Director, SARSO

attended the four-day regional training on ‘Enhancing

Capacity for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

for Safe Trade in Animal and Animal Products in South

Asia’ held from 19-22 June 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The training was organized by the Regional Support

Unit (RSU) of Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the SAARC

Secretariat, Kathmandu. About 35 participants from

the SAARC Member States as well as international SPS

experts from Organization for Animal Health (OIE),

Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International

(CABI) attended the training programme. The training

was aimed at enhancing regional capacity among

SAARC Member States for safe and enhanced trade in

livestock and livestock products. Experts shared their

views on trade impeding NTMs specifically on Animal

and Animal Products in South Asia, current SPS

implementation capacity in South Asia, risk analysis

and risk management under SPS Agreement, Animal

health surveillance as a tool for monitoring sanitary

status, and need of harmonization of SAARC Standards

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for facilitation of trade. Mr. Khawja Gulam Mohiuddin,

Deputy Director, SARSO made a presentation on

Setting up SAARC Standards especially w.r.t. Regional

Standards for Milk and Milk Products. Dr. Somsak

Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative in Nepal and Bhutan

welcomed the participants and expressed his

confidence that the workshop would enhance hands-

on-skills of the participants in SPS management and

contribute to gain access to high end markets. Mr.

MJH Jabed, Director of Agriculture and Rural

Development at SAARC Secretariat, stressed the need

for adopting SAARC standards developed by the SARSO

which, he said, is essential to develop regional capacity

and induce meaningful change in the coming years in

terms of successful implementation of the South Asian

Free Trade Area (SAFTA). Dr. Vijay Chandra Jha, Deputy

Director General, Department of Livestock,

Government of Nepal in his inaugural address

appreciated the efforts of RSU and SAARC Secretariat

in making capacity building in the area of

transboundary Animal health issues in facilitating trade

among the SAARC region. He wished that such kind of

programme will be organized periodically in different

part of SAARC Member States.

SARSO ATTENDS THE SAARC AGRICULTURE TRADE FORUM

HELD IN DHAKA

The SARSO attended the meeting on ‘SAARC Agriculture Trade Forum’ held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 22-23 May

2017. The meeting was jointly organized by SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), Dhaka Bangladesh and Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (FAO-RAP), Bangkok, Thailand.

The forum was aimed to take stock of regional agricultural trade and identify the issues blocking the way forward and

strategies to address the issues. The representatives and international trade consultants from Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, SAARC Secretariat, SAC and FAO attended the meeting. Mr. Khawja

Gulam Mohiuddin, Deputy Director made a presentation on the Role and experiences of SARSO on Agricultural Trade

in South Asia. Amongst others, the meeting recommended, SAC and SARSO to jointly play significant role for

Agricultural Trade facilitation and accelerate SAFTA activities in collaboration with development partners.

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SARSO PARTICIPATES IN THE WORKSHOP ON CONFORMITY

STANDARDS, NEW DELHI, INDIA

Mr. Indu Bikram Joshi, Director SARSO participated in

the ‘workshop on Conformity Standards’ held in New

Delhi, India from 24-25 May 2017. The Business

Initiatives Leading Development (BUILD) in association

with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and USAID

organized the workshop. The primary objective of this

workshop was to sensitize relevant entrepreneurs and

government officials about various standards and

technical requirements, such as sanitary and

phytosanitary measures (SPS), Technical Barriers to

Trade (TBT) applied by India to goods imported from

Bangladesh. The workshop focused on six large sectors

facing standard related challenges: textiles, jute and

jute products, plastics, leather and agro and agro-

processing products, fisheries and marine. About 70

private and public sector participants of India and

Bangladesh, including policymakers, researchers,

professionals and private business entrepreneurs met

to understand and address the gaps between these

two countries.

The workshop stressed the importance of trust

building between the two countries, which relies on

fair play of trade. The aim of the workshop was to

identify ways to reduce the barriers to trade. The

workshop stressed the need for developing a

coordination mechanism among the Ministries dealing

with non-food items.

MEETING WITH PTB-GERMANY

The officials of SARSO had a Skype meeting with PTB-Germany. Mr. Uwe Miesner (PTB, Head of Working Group Asia),

Mr. Daniel Boehme (PTB, Project Coordinator), Ms. Anke Bohn (PTB Project Assistant, Protocol) were present during

the meeting. The officials of PTB-Germany updated on the current status and future concept of the SAARC-PTB

project. Mr. Miesner informed that the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has

allocated a tentative budget for the new project phase and mentioned that the new phase would focus on metrology

& accreditation based upon the evaluation results. He also emphasized the importance of views and proposals from

SARSO on the project. The SARSO updated the PTB on the latest developments of SARSO and also briefed about the

interim arrangements of SARSO.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The MoU to be signed between SARSO and CEN/CENELEC, which would foster closer cooperation for the benefit of

both the organizations in the field of Standardization is at final stages. All Member States of SAARC have given the

concurrences to the MoU. The MoU is now in the last phase of approval process in CEN/CENELEC.

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SARSO DIRECTIVES PART 1 & 2 PUBLISHED

The SARSO Secretariat on the recommendation of TMB and approval of GB of SARSO has

published following SARSO Directives Part 1 and 2 on 04 May 2017.

1. SARSO Directives Part 1 – Procedure for the Technical Work

2. SARSO Directives Part 2 – Rules for the structure and drafting of SAARC Standards

These SARSO Directives set out the procedures in carrying out technical work, primarily the

development and maintenance of SAARC Standards through the activities of Sectoral Technical

Committees of SARSO. These SARSO Directives will be helpful for experts of Member States

including Project leaders, editing committees, conveners, secretaries and chairpersons in

development of SAARC Standards.

SARSO BID FAREWELL TO Dr. SYED HUMAYUN KABIR

Dr. Syed Humayun Kabir successfully completed his tenure as

the Director General of SARSO on 02 April 2017 after serving

for a period of three years. He joined as the First Director

General of SARSO on 03 April 2014.

The SARSO organized a farewell function on 03 April 2017.

During the farewell, the staff of SARSO applauded for his

successful tenure as the Director General of SARSO for a period

of three years and wished him a good life ahead.

SECOND MEETING OF STC ON ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS, TELECOM & IT TO BE

HELD IN JULY 2017 AT KARACHI, PAKISTAN The Second meeting of Sectoral Technical Committee on Electrical, Electronics, Telecom and IT of SARSO will be held

from 25-26 July 2017 under the chairmanship of Dr. Gulzar Ahmed Memon. Pakistan Standards and Quality Control

Authority (PSQCA), the National Standards Body of Pakistan will host the meeting in Karachi, Pakistan.

Editorial Committee

Mr. Indu Bikram Joshi Mr. Tashi Wangchuk

Mr. Khawja Gulam Mohiuddin

South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) Secretariat 116/A, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh

Tel: +88 02 8878130, Fax: +88 02 8878131 E-mail: info@sarso.org.bd

Website: www.sarso.org.bd