Al Kasabi: Saudi Product Safety Forum is a Starting Point to Benefit from International Experiences
HE Dr. Saad bin Othman Al Kasabi, Governor of Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), emphasized that Saudi Product Safety Forum is a starting point for benefiting from international experiences and expertise in the field of legislation and technical tools to raise the level of product safety in the markets.
He said that the Forum comes within the framework of SASO's efforts to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 through its role in the implementation of Saudi Product Safety Program. The Program aims to develop the legislative and technical environment in the Kingdom to raise the level of commodities' conformity to standards, to reach 80% by 2020.
Al Kasabi pointed out that SASO has been keen to attract a large number of international expertise and experiences in the field of product safety, so that the opportunity is available to specialists and interests to view best international practices in this regard. He added that the Forum would be attended by a selection of speakers from 16 countries around the world such as Germany, Britain, Holland, Belgium, UAE, South Korea and other countries.
In addition, he noted the participation of a number of officials and representatives of a number of international bodies and organizations concerned with consumer protection. The Forum will be attended by Mrs. Teresa Moreira, Head of Competition and Consumer Policies, Branch of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Mr. Michele Cervone d'Urso, Ambassador-Head of EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia; Ms. Vera Despotović, Head of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe; and others.
Furthermore, he indicated that Saudi Product Safety Forum deals with several main topics: product safety law in the Kingdom and Gulf, Rapid Alert Systems for unsafe products in the market, product safety legislations, regional and global experiences in market surveillance and risk assessment, as well as the development of technical regulations and standards related to product safety.
It is noteworthy that the forum's events will be held under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Trade and Investment and Chairman of SASO's BoD, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi. The Forum will be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, in Riyadh, from Sha'ban 12th to 13th, 1440 AH (corresponding to April 17th -18th, 2019).