2011 Bahrain Country Commercial Guide - US - Export.gov

Total Quality Management (TQM) for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In
July 2009, the Directorate enhanced their communication with other ministries including
the MOH, General Organization for Ports (GOP) and Customs, and conducted training
and seminars to enhance and speed up the process.
Quality Unit
In accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Commerce and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Quality Unit of the Directorate of Standards
and Metrology provides consulting services to small and medium sized enterprises to
meet the requirements for ISO 9000 certification. Quality Unit staff, with the assistance
of a UNIDO expert, provided guidance to six service companies involved in phase two of
the quality project. The guidance involved the final documentation of quality systems,
and the pre-assessment process. Four out of six of these companies have documented
and implemented their quality system.
Publication of Technical Regulations Return to top
The National Committee of the Directorate of Standards and Metrology approves and
issues procedures for the implementation of national standards. The National
Committee has approved several GCC standards as mandatory. It issued these in the
form of a ministerial order, and also published them in the Official Gazette.
The Official Gazette is available on the website of the Legal Affairs Directorate (Arabic
only).
Trade Agreements Return to top
Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Duty-free access from
Bahrain to other GCC countries is granted provided exported products have a minimum
of 40 percent local value-added. According to the Bahraini Ministry of Finance, Bahrain
signed 32 bilateral trade agreements with Arab and non-Arab countries around the
world, categorized as follows:
Agreements on the promotion and protection of investments
Agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of income tax
evasion
Agreements on reciprocal exemption from income tax in the business of
international air transport
Agreements on economic, trade, and technical co-operation
Bahrain and the U.S. signed a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) in September 1999, the
first BIT between the United States and a GCC state. The agreement entered into force
in May 2001.
In August 2006, the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement came into force. Bahrain was
the first and remains one of only two GCC countries with a U.S. FTA. High-level
government officials have promoted the FTA as a way to increase Foreign Direct
Investment.
58