11 Feb 2011

Exporting to the Middle East? Gulf Toys Technical Regulation (GTTR) now enforced in all GCC participating countries.

As of 1st January 2011, the "Gulf Toys Technical Regulation (GTTR)" has been uniformly enforced in all GCC Member States (The State of the United Arab Emirates, The Kingdom of Bahrain, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Sultanate of Oman, The State of Qatar, The State of Kuwait and Yemen).

To comply with this regulation, the GTTR stipulates that all toys entering into the GCC member states will have to have the GCC Conformity quality marking.

Gulf Conformity Mark

This marking signifies that the Toys conform to at least the essential requirements for health, safety and the environment.

All toys that are covered by the scope of EN 71 and EC directive 88/378/EC (as well as IEC 62115 for electrical toys) are included in the scope of the GTTR.

The regulation that has been implemented is almost identical to the European Toys Directive 88/378/EC which includes Module A and Module B+C, with additional Gulf deviations. It may be noted here that module B+C which is an option for toy manufacturers for application of the above ‘G’ mark will be under the supervision of a Notified Body (NB).

Intertek which is a Notified Body in Europe for toys CE safety marking can assist all toy manufacturers and exporters with the following services to comply with the GTTR as these regulations are similar to the EC directives:

  • Provide technical assistance to comply with the processes and procedures of the GTTR to apply the ‘G’ mark.
  • Toy testing at Intertek recognized and approved laboratories in accordance with GTTR specified standards.
  • Technical review and evaluation of existing/ available product information.
  • Completion of the Manufacturer’s Declaration of Conformity.
  • Inspection of manufacturing/ production facilities.

For further information on how you can comply with the GTTR when exporting toys to the GCC contact your local Intertek office.