H.E. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Kingdom of Bahrain announced today the official launch of the FTA negotiations between the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and the United Kingdom. In a phone call that took place earlier today between H.E. Minister Alzayani and The Right Honorable Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, joined by The Right Honorable Ranil Jayawardena Minister of International Trade, as well as H.E. Dr. Nayef bin Falah Alhajraf, Secretary General of GCC, and HE Mr Abdulraham Ahmed Alharbi, Governor of Saudi General Auhtority for Foriegn Trade and General Coordinator for Negotiations at the GCC General Secretariate &and Head of GCC Negotiations Team, and H.E. Sh. Hamad bin Salman Alkhalifa, Assistant Under Secretary for Domestic and Foreign trade at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

It is worth noting at this juncture that an FTA between the GCC countries and the UK would add a new chapter to what is already a long standing and strategic partnership, evidenced by annual trade of £30 billion in goods, as well as an additional £19 billion of services. Making it one of the largest trading relationship for both parties.

H.E. Minister Alzayani commented “It brings me great joy and pleasure to officially announce the official launch of FTA negotiations between GCC countries and UK today, an initiative that we have worked tirelessly on realizing since The Kingdom of Bahrain assumption of the GCC presidency at the beginning of this year. It is no doubt that we shall collectively embark on a new chapter, which will solidify our long standing trade and investment cooperation and build upon the strong foundations forged over the past centuries.

At this juncture, I feel obliged to present my thanks and gratitude to H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Alkhalifa, The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and HRH. Prince Salman bin Hamad Alkhalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain for their continued guidance and support towards this significant economic initiate, for without which we wouldn't have been able to reach what we have reached today. I also wish to thank my GCC counterparts and the Government of the United Kingdom led by The Right Honorable Prime Minster Boris Johnson, and H.E. Minister Trevelyan and H.E. Minister Jayawardena and their teams for their continuous and invaluable cooperation.

Moreover, I wish to thank the GCC Secretariat led by Secretary General H.E. Dr. Alhajraf, and all GCC member states working teams on their genuine efforts and congratulate them on this remarkable milestone. Finally, I wish H.E. Dr. Alharbi and his negotiating team a fruitful and successful negations".

The Lower Criminal Court headed by Judge Mahmoud Al Siddiqi, issued its ruling in Case No. 07202003518, known as the Hamala Warehouse Case, while the Criminal Execution Prosecution assigned the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to confiscate and destroy spoiled and expired foodstuffs, the subject of the aforementioned case and at the expense of the convicts.

The details of the case indicate that the defendants knowingly possessed, traded and sold spoiled, contaminated and expired foodstuffs. The defendants changed the expired dates on the foodstuffs and placed valid dates on them.

The Defendants in the case were sentenced with varying verdicts, which included imprisonment from three to five years, fines from BD2,000 to BD5,000, and permanent deportation.

The court ordered to confiscated the items, amounting to 94,000 food products, to destroy it and the company's registration was permanently written off from the records of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.. ​

HE Mr. Zayid bin Rashed Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, held a phone call with the Sri Lankan State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, with whom he discussed ways to bolster cooperation between the two countries.

Mr. Al Zayani highlighted Bahrain's distinguished economic capabilities, which entitled it to be a favourable destination for regional and international investors.

"This is the fruitful outcome of the successful policies adopted by the government, including easy procedures to boost the economic sector and attract more investments and value-added mega projects," he said.

The two sides also discussed areas of joint cooperation in many sectors, particularly entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Topics related to the tourism sector and other issues of mutual interest were also discussed. ​

The  Inspection Directorate in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (MoICT), has recently destroyed expired goods that were last year confiscated from a warehouse in Hamala.

The step follows the decision announced by the Public Prosecution to task the Ministry to confiscate and destroy the items.

On the occasion, Mr. Abdulaziz Al Ashraf, Assistant Undersecretary for Control and Resources, explained that the court has sentenced the individuals involved in the case with varying verdicts, which included imprisonment from three to five years, fines from BD2,000 to BD5,000, and permanent deportation.

The punishments came in response to the defendants' involvement in replacing the validity dates on the expired commodities with new ones and trading it in the local market.

Mr. Al Ashraf clarified that the destruction process was done in cooperation with the relevant authorities in the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health and the Southern Area Municipality, in implementation of the Public Prosecution's decision.

The destroyed items included 94,000 food commodities of more than 80 brands of different origins. He added that investigations in the case has led to another warehouse in Juffair, where 14,000 products were detected.

The items included multiple food items such as rice, lentils, chickpeas, black pepper, turmeric, pickles, tomato paste, grape leaves, corn, coconut powder and others.

Mr. Al Ashraf expressed thanks and appreciation to the Public Prosecution, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health and the Southern Area Municipality for their cooperation in the case.

He reaffirmed the Ministry's keenness to defy any attempts of commercial fraud that would pose risk to the health of citizens and residents.​

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (MoICT), in cooperation with BENEFIT, has recently announced a new service to pay bills for renting industrial plots affiliated with the Ministry through the “Fawateer" service via the BenefitPay app, through which the Ministry aims to facilitate the procedures for paying bills for renting industrial plots in an easy and flexible manner.

This step comes as part of the Ministry's endeavors to employ technology to facilitate many services for companies and factories located in industrial areas. The new service will enable investors to pay bills for renting industrial plots through the “Fawateer" service on BenefitPay, and it will require the plot number the tenant wishing to use this service to pay the amount owed through a simple step.

On the occasion, Mr. Khalid Fahad Al Alawi, Assistant Undersecretary for Industry Development, stated: "The partnership of the government sector with the private sector is a strategic partnership that aims to improve and automate government services as part of the Ministry's vision towards digital transformation to serve investors and companies in the industrial sector, which falls among its priorities. This initiative and partnership with a reputable institution such as BENEFIT contributes to the development of everything related to the Ministry's payments in general. Industrial investors can now complete the process of paying industrial services rental bills with the a simple click."

On his part, Mr. Yousif Al Nefaei, Deputy CEO of Business Development and Financial Services at BENEFIT, said: "The industrial sector and many other sectors face many challenges regarding collections and payments but there are also huge opportunities when it comes to automation and innovative services for those processes in general. It has become clear that partnerships are the key to joining the wave of change and reaching the next evolution in the world of payments, which must be driven by partnership. At BENEFIT, we have a vision to take the lead in digital transformation and contribute to the creation of an innovative and cohesive ecosystem for consumers, businesses, investors and all stakeholders."

It is worth mentioning that the service of paying bills for renting industrial plots is the first service launched by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism through the Fawateer platform. It is hoped that similar services will be launched for other sectors due to the its advantages; being free, safe, easy to use and saving time and effort. ​

The Testing and Metrology Directorate in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (MoICT), has recently announced that it is intensifying control on toys through the implementation of the new conformity assessment procedures, which came into effect on June 1, 2021.

The new procedures aim to tighten control over these products to ensure their safety for use by children before they enter the local markets in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

On this occasion, Shaikh Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa, Assistant Undersecretary for Domestic and Foreign Trade, stated that the control of children's toys products is a priority for the Ministry because children constitute a large segment of the society.

Explaining further, he said that this segment is not aware of its actions sometimes, so the responsibility is greater on the legislature and supervisory authorities to protect children from low-grade products that may pose danger to them.

"From this standpoint, the Ministry has imposed new measures on economic operators of children's toy products to ensure safety and security in these products before they enter the local markets of the Kingdom," Shaikh Hamad reaffirmed.

The Assistant Undersecretary also indicated that the new procedures on these products will not constitute a burden on merchants or importers, mentioning that some GCC have implemented these procedures for a while, and global factories have been aware of these procedures since 2011, and therefore the matter will not be new for them.

Shaikh Hamad elaborated: "Accordingly, the merchant or importer, before importing children's toys products, must verify the requirements for installing the GCC tracking code on the product, which represents the GCC conformity badge with the QR code, and the GCC model inspection certificate issued by an acceptable body accredited to the GCC Standardisation Organisation, along with the manufacturer's declaration of conformity."

It is worth noting that the provision of these requirements means that the product has undergone the necessary tests by one of the testing bodies accepted and approved by the Organisation, in accordance with international specifications and GCC technical regulations that guarantee the safety and security of this product, and therefore the competent department of the Ministry will permit the products that meet these requirements to enter the local markets.

Shaikh Hamad added that the Directorate is fully prepared to receive inquiries from factories, importers as well as buyers via Tel: 17574909, Fax: 17570730, e-mail: bsmd@www.moic.gov.bh. ​

As a result of repeated accidents caused by children's toys that do not comply with the technical regulations concerned with public safety, whether from children swallowing batteries or small parts, or even injuries due to sharp parts or ends of children's toys, The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism represented by the Testing and Metrology Directorate "National Standardisation Organisation" in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has recently participated in the research and preparation of specifications and regulations related to children's toys in cooperation with the GCC Standardisation Organisation, as well as the standardisation bodies of member states.

National Standardisation Organisation specialists participated with their counterparts from the standardisation bodies in GCC countries, and in coordination and cooperation from the GCC Standardisation Organisation in preparing a unified GCC technical regulation that includes a set of technical requirements for toys for commercial purposes in the GCC common market.

 It is worth noting that the regulation includes a set of technical requirements that economic operators (factory, supplier, trader) are required to fulfil in all stages, starting with the manufacturing stage and reaching the stage of circulation in the GCC markets, as all of these requirements are global requirements issued by the International Standardisation Organisation.

This resulted in the issuance of the GCC Technical Regulation for Children's Toys No. 131704-01BD by the decision of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Standardisation Organisation at its 17^th meeting held in Riyadh on May 8, 2013 to be implemented starting January 2014.

This regulation includes control over all children's toys designated for those under 15 years of age and includes toys accompanying food items that were announced and noted by the Ministry on April 1, 2019. This regulation also includes an explanation of the basic requirements that must be met in children's toys, whether in those which are locally produced or those that are imported from abroad to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

For its part, the Testing and Metrology Directorate has carried out in the past several inspection campaigns aimed at verifying the safety and security of the products available in the local markets to ensure the safety and security of children while using this toy. We mention the following inspection campaigns:

The Directorate is currently working to strengthen the control on children's toys, as by the middle of 2021 it will impose more stringent requirements in line with the GCC regulation of children's toys, with the aim of ensuring the safety of children's toys products and the safety of their use, and that these products have undergone many safety tests prior to their import and circulation in the local markets.

The Directorate also clarified that by the beginning of June 2021, it  will oblige the merchant/importer to provide the following requirements to allow shipments of toys to enter the Kingdom of Bahrain:

- Providing a GCC model inspection certificate for each model of children's toy products.

- Installing the Gulf tracking code on the game (Gulf Matching Badge + QR Code).

- Providing the importer's declaration of conformity.

Additionally, the Directorate confirmed that it is preparing an integrated strategy to reduce the risk of children's toys that do not comply with safety requirements in the Kingdom and the significant contribution to reducing the percentage of injuries among children because of it.

It is worth noting that the Ministry has held a series of meetings with the suppliers and importers of children's toys in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and they expressed their approval and readiness to raise the level of control over children's toys, which serves citizens and residents.

HE Mr. Zayed bin Rashed Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, has recently received Mr. Yusuf Al Binkhalil, Chief Executive Officer of the National Communication Centre (NCC).

In the meeting,  Mr. Al Zayani and Mr. Al Binkhalil reviewed a number of topics related to communication between the Ministry and the Centre.

The Minister underlined the major role played by NCC in charting the main features of the media map in the Kingdom, developing the internal and external communication system and highlighting Bahrain's civilizational image, as well as its landmark achievements across various fields, particularly economy.

Moreover, Mr. Al Zayani also lauded the Centre's strategy and goals, affirming the Ministry's full readiness to cooperate with NCC and provide it with all the necessary information and data that would facilitate its work and achieve its objectives.​