General Standards
The DRC moved very slowly in applying uniform standards and conformity assessment regime, because of the lack of updated standards law, resources to enforce standards and qualified personnel.
Standards organizations
The Office Congolais de Contrôle (OCC) is the only governmental body in the DRC responsible for developing and enforcing standards and performing conformity assessments on imports and exports. The OCC operates under the Ministry of Commerce. The OCC has two operating branches:
- the metrology lab - responsible for the development, compilation and publication of standards; the lab also establishes working relationships with regional and international measurement and standards organizations.
- the Centre de Documentation et d’Information sur Normes (CEDIN), serves as the testing and certification body. CEDIN carries out products tests, calibrations, conformity assessments and compiles internationally and nationally approved standards. CEDIN contains 10,000 standards: 5,000 from the ISO, 500 from the British Standards Institute (BSI), 100 from COMESA, 60 from SADC.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has 217 national standards for products such as wheat flour, cement, wood, steel and conformity assessments. Recently, the country adopted 450 additional norms established by the COMESA, to cover fields like fishing, industry, livestock and agriculture.
The Ministry of Mines has its own standards and certification organization - the Centre d’Expertise, d’Evaluation et de Certification (CEEC). This agency is responsible for the certification of gold and diamonds.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Vegetable Quarantine Service (SQAV) is responsible for the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures on animal and plant products. Generally, the country follows the “Codex alimentarus” guidelines for food items. The Codex is applied only to imports, because the OCC's lab does not have the necessary equipment to inspect exports.
Conformity assessment
The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for standards and conformity assessments. Being a ISO member, the OCC is responsible for developing standards and performing conformity assessments on exports and imports.
Product Certification
The OCC is responsible for the product certification. The agency is not able to perform certification by itself and it is working with the South African National Metrology Lab and the Comité Français d’Accréditations (COFRAC) for accreditations.
Accreditation
The National Committee of Standardization is authorized to propose regulations and standards for the export and import of goods. The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for enforcing national standards.
Contacts
Office Congolais de Contrôle (OCC)
Website: http://occ.cd
Email: contact@occ.cd
Address: 98, avenue du Port, Kinshasa - Gombe
Tel: 0817008346
