QCC tightens inspection on controlled products and legal measuring instruments in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC), the entity responsible for developing quality infrastructure and raising awareness on quality standards in Abu Dhabi, has conducted a series of inspection campaigns across the emirate of Abu Dhabi to ensure the compliance of controlled products to relevant local and international standards.

Part of QCC's ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of consumers and protect them from the hazards of sub-standard products, the campaigns aim to promote the quality of locally traded products and enable them to receive the QCC Trustmark.

As many as 29,810 products were inspected during the four-month long campaign that commenced in early 2015. The initiative targeted a mix of consumer products such as children's toys in January, household electrical appliances in February, new and re-treaded tires and household electrical appliances in March, and cigarettes in the month of May.

In addition, QCC inspected the accuracy of legal measuring instruments such as trade scales and balances, gold and precious metal scales, Arabic oud and perfume scales, weighing bridges, shipping scales, and petrol pump meters. In the process, a total of 2,411 measuring instruments were inspected.

QCC also called upon consumers to look for the gold-coloured accuracy sign on scales prior to the purchase of items. Customers were also advised to report the issue to the Abu Dhabi Government Contact Centre on 800 555 should they detect the use of scales carrying the red rejection sign.

Mohamed Helal Al Balooshi, Acting Director of Marketing and Communications at QCC, said: "QCC carries out regular inspection campaigns as part of our ongoing priority to ensure the health and safety of community members through the continued surveillance of all products traded in Abu Dhabi. Through such initiatives, we seek to encourage the use of the Abu Dhabi Trust Mark on products by highlighting the requirements of our various product conformity schemes. We believe that in return, this will support our ongoing efforts to build a solid and highly efficient quality infrastructure in the emirate as articulated by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030."

In an earlier awareness campaign rolled out in December 2014, QCC distributed 1,354 measurement rulers to garments and tailoring shops that use the unit of length in buying and selling garments. Set to conclude in end-2015 , the campaign aims to replace yards with metres as the official approved unit of length.

The Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council was established in 2009 to raise the quality of the emirate's exports and locally traded products, while protecting the interest of consumers and supporting the UAE's competitive economy. This is achieved through empowering regulators to establish and implement product safety, legal metrology and conformity schemes. QCC also sets guidelines and benchmarks to identify and verify that the products manufactured and traded in Abu Dhabi conform to the highest quality standards.