UPDATE ON THE DAMAN PROGRAM AND WHAT COMES AFTER

UNCLAS AMMAN 008486

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STATE PLEASE PASS USTR
USDOC 6000/STANDARDS OFFICE/JENNIFER STRADTMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD JO
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE DAMAN PROGRAM AND WHAT COMES AFTER

REF: AMMAN 7770

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan's long-running DAMAN pre-inspection
program is set to expire September 2007. According to the
head of the Jordan Institute of Standards and Metrology
(JISM),DAMAN's contractor will have built or upgraded by the
end of the program four labs to test the safety of four
categories of products. Although the DAMAN program is
ending, JISM's reliance on a twinning program with Germany
and the emphasis on European standards raises potential red
flags for U.S. exporters for the post-DAMAN period. JISM
says the government will issue a law which will adopt the
European standards in the form of regulations but with a
flexibility that allows other technical regulations to also
be adopted. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Yasin Khayat, the head of JISM, told Commercial and
Economic Counselors on November 6 that the Bureau Veritas
(BV) contract for the DAMAN program would expire September 1,

2007. Khayat said the end of the contract had already been
announced, and that the program would not be renewed, either
with BV or any other company. BV has constructed and/or
equipped three testing labs (for vehicles, electronics and
toys),and will complete a fourth for safety and protective
equipment before the end of the contract. These labs will be
privately owned and independent of the government, but will
be accredited for testing by the government. The labs will
test product samples on a random basis only after visual
inspection has detected a problem.


3. (SBU) According to Khayat, JISM's twinning project with
Germany is aimed at upgrading its technical and
administrative capabilities, and is currently reviewing EU
directives on accreditation, standards, market surveillance
and metrology. There are four to six German experts working
in JISM on the project at any one time. Once the project is
completed in October 2007, JISM "would adopt the EU
standards." The GoJ would then issue a law designed to adopt
the standards in the form of regulations. Khayat, however,
asserted that a lot of harmonization would be needed and that
the law would leave room for flexibility so that other
technical regulations can be adopted. He asserted that," No
priority will be given to any one set," adding that many of
the EU standards were actually based on U.S. ones.


4. (SBU) In addition to joining the International Laboratory
Accreditation Association (ILAC),JISM is also looking at a
partnership arrangement with ISO and the American National
Standards Institute. Khayat asserted that U.S. standards
would be recognized by JISM as international standards as
well, and that EU standards would not prevent their adoption.


5. (SBU) Khayat said the twinning project was focusing on a
number of EU directives. These included low-voltage
electrical equipment, gas appliances, personal protective
equipment, toys, construction materials, general safety
products, and measurement instruments. Over 1,300 standards
would be adopted related to these areas; and Khayat promised
to provide the Embassy with a list of them.


6. (SBU) Khayat added that JISM is having a problem with the
standards on construction materials. The building code in
Jordan is based on the U.S. Association for Testing and
Materials Standards (ASTM) system, and the EU standards are
very different from the ASTM ones. JISM will be looking to
harmonize the EU standards to those of the U.S. building code.


7. (SBU) Khayat emphasized again that Jordan will easily be
able to adopt standards other than those of the EU. In
addition, where the U.S. standard is more strict than those
of the EU, those EU standards would be adopted to the U.S.
ones through harmonization.


8. (SBU) Khayat also clarified that the risk-based system
which has been operating over the past year would remain in
place. NOTE: This means that companies whose products were
defect-free or without any safety issues would continue to
enter Jordan without anything more than a visual inspection.
END NOTE.


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