The Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization

The Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization is the government body responsible for standardization and quality control in Sudan, and its headquarters is in Khartoum on University Street. The roots of measurement and calibration activity in the country go back to 1952, when an office for weights and measures was established at the Ministry of Trade, then the Weights, Measures and Scales Law was issued in 1955, followed by the Law on Hallmarking Gold and Silver Work in 1972, and the hallmarking unit was officially opened in 1985.

The organization in its current form was established in 1992 by Cabinet Decision No. 287, merging the General Directorate of Standardization and Hallmarking of Precious Work and the directorates of standards and quality control at the Ministries of Trade and Industry, then the National Council approved its law by Decision No. 68 of 1993. In 1994 the Weights and Measures Administration was joined to it, and the organization's Establishment Order of 2007 reorganized it as a public body with legal personality.

The organization is responsible for setting Sudanese standard specifications and publishing them, serving as the national reference for measurement and calibration, hallmarking precious metals and gemstones, monitoring the quality of local, imported and exported goods and products, and spreading awareness of standardization and quality to protect the consumer and the national economy. It works under laws including the Measurement and Calibration Law of 2008 and the Precious Metals and Gemstones Law of 2008.

The organization has branches and offices in the states, entry points and ports, and about fifteen testing laboratories according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and it is a member of that organization, of the International Organization of Legal Metrology and of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and the national contact point for the World Trade Organization agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade and on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

(Sources: Official website of the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization, ssmo.gov.sd; International Organization for Standardization (ISO); U.S. Department of Commerce trade guide, trade.gov; Arabic Wikipedia)

— Editorial Team