Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries is an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) institution which is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations. OIC was established in 1969 and has 57 member states from four different continents. Since the organization has the mission of protecting the interests of Muslim world by being the collective voice of Ummah, it has various organs tasked with specific fields of activities. And SMIIC is one of them.
When we introduce SMIIC, it is very important to highlight some of its unique characteristics such as being a treaty based and an intergovernmental organization as well as having a technical mission and diplomatic status. The Institute was established in 2010 and is located in Istanbul.
It is also noteworthy to mention that SMIIC is not a conformity assessment body and does not conduct certification activities but it is the platform where standards are developed with the contribution of all stakeholders.
SMIIC has eight objectives which are clearly defined in its Statute and these are the main ones that we use while explaining the scope of our work:
- To prepare OIC/SMIIC standards
- To achieve uniformity in standardization, metrology, and laboratory testing in Member States.
- To provide technical assistance to the Member States which do not possess such bodies.
- To establish a conformity assessment scheme for the purpose of expediting exchange of materials, manufactured goods, and products among Member States, beginning with mutual recognition.
Although SMIIC was established officially in 2010, the roots of the Institute dates back to 1985 when the draft Statute was prepared and submitted to the OIC member states. At that time, ratification was necessary, those who wish to become a member of SMIIC would get the Statute approved in their parliament.
After 13 countries ratified the Statute, SMIIC was established in 2010 and General Secretariat started its activities in Istanbul in 2011.
Back then many plans, programs, activities were initiated and one of the most important projects was the establishment of SMIIC Information System as the facilitator of the technical committee work.
As witnessing the years passing by, the number of SMIIC Members and technical committees has gradually increased which resulted in concrete outcomes such as publishing more and more standards. 2017 can be considered as a cornerstone in the history of the Institute. Six years of experience gave new insights and radical changes were made to the Statute and other internal regulations to enhance its operations and organizational structure. Within the framework of the revision process, new councils were established to replace the committee formation and these are Standardization Management Council (SMC), Metrology Council (MC) and Accreditation Council (AC).
2019 was another busy year which witnessed the end of revision process of OIC/SMIIC 1, 2 and 3 halal standards. These core halal standards whose first editions were published in 2011, are actually older than SMIIC itself and were revised following a thorough study and collective efforts. In 2019, new editions of these standards have been published and are in use since then.
Starting from 2020, we gave special focus on capacity building and training activities in accordance with our objectives and strategic plan. Although our agenda was mostly occupied with pandemic and its adverse effects during the years 2020-2021, SMIIC technical committees did not stop working, on the contrary, online meetings and SMIIC Information System provided great opportunities to accelerate standardization work hence, we have continued to publish new standards.
An intergovernmental organization such as SMIIC is as strong as its foundational and operational documents. SMIIC Statute is our constitution drawing the general framework for the activities and is supported by Rules of Procedure and other internal regulations. They are all helpful in facilitating our tasks.
For technical activities, Directives are very essential and along with other guides, they act like a reference book.
Of course, an institute would not be intact without a clear vision and mission which are set in the strategic plan. Our latest strategy was approved in 2020 and since then we are implementing the projects included in our roadmap.
It is also important to remind that our members are not certification bodies, universities, or companies. SMIIC has state-based membership. Membership in SMIIC is open to all OIC member states and they can be a member through national standardization, metrology, and accreditation bodies.
And we are proud to see that the number of SMIIC member states has gradually increased since its establishment and reached 47 in 2023. Every year, SMIIC is growing bigger and bigger which results in increasing its visibility for its fields of activities.
Considering that cooperation is a must for success, SMIIC has been very active in this regard and signed MoUs with international and regional organizations interested partially or wholly in standardization or related activities.
GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization (AIDSMO), African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) are among the organizations that we have officially cooperate.
SMIIC has also signed cooperation agreements with relevant United Nations and sister OIC institutions and also has good dialogues with International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) and we hope to finalize these talks with MoUs as well.
With our new roadmap, we have set a new vision and mission for 2030.
Our vision is “To create a quality infrastructure that improves economy, welfare and protects our Member States.”
And our mission is “To develop quality infrastructure, by establishing uniformity in standardization, metrology and accreditation activities including conformity assessment and quality improvement to facilitate trade and support sustainable economic growth, consumer welfare, environment and innovation promotion for our Member States.”