Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.
Last Published: 4/12/2019

Overview

 

The Gambia Standards Bureau (TGSB) is the national body charged with standardizing methods, processes and products.  The Gambia Standards Bureau Act was enacted in 2010 and the agency started operations in 2011.  The TGSB is a member of an international government standards body and it is jointly managed by the government, specifically through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, and the private sector.  The Gambia generally has mandatory standards in strategic and priority areas for national development, but the application of these standards is generally weak.  The TGSB does not prepare an annual standards work plan.  

Standards

The Gambia Standards Bureau (TGSB) does not develop unique national standards unilaterally or with companies with a manufacturing presence in The Gambia and largely transposes standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization, to which the United States is also a member country.   The Gambia is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which also develops standards.  When adopted, The Gambia will be bound by the ECOWAS treaty to apply European Union (EU) standards through the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) an association agreement with ECOWAS.

Testing, inspection and certification

The conformity assessments offered by The Gambia Standards Bureau (TGSB) include testing, inspection and certification.  Please contact TGSB for further details. The Gambia Standards Bureau helps organizations get certification standards, including ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.  Certification requirements do not burden U.S. exporters of products or service providers.  The TGSB is not a member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) or the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), but it is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (IOS), the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), and The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).  Since access to local testing laboratories remains limited, tests are often conducted in Senegal or the European Union. Test certificates from foreign laboratories are accepted by the TGSB.  U.S. testing laboratories can operate in the market and test U.S. products to comply with domestic regulatory requirements.

Publication of technical regulations

The government publishes regulations in a national gazette.  Proposed and final technical regulations are published in the national gazette but these are announcements and are not open to comment by local or foreign entities. U.S. firms wishing to comment on these regulations must contact the TGSB or the Ministry of Trade directly.  The Gambia does not maintain an annual regulatory agenda.  While not a standard for trade, in July 2018, The Gambia Standards Bureau published its findings on the Rebasing and Compilation of Gross Domestic Product – 2013 Base Year: Production Approach 2013 – 2017.  No known regulations impact U.S. products. 

For inquiries on future publications, please contact the TGSB directly:
Tel: +220 4377847 / 4377917
Email: statgeneral@gbos.gov.gm / info@gbos.gov.gm
Website: www.gbos.gov.gm

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify to the WTO proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country(ies) and industry sector(s) of interest, and can also request full texts of regulations.  This service and its associated web site are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

Contact Information
Abdoulie Jallow, Technical Advisor
Tel: +220 999 6108 / +220 99 77 035
Address: The Gambia Standards Bureau
130 Kairaba Avenue
P.O. Box 2384
thegambiasb@gmail.com

 

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