VU The Constitution of 15 September 1992;
VU Constitution Act No. 134/AN/06/5th L of 02 February 2006 revising the Constitution;
VU Constitution Act No. 215/AN/08/5th L of 19 January 2008 revising the Constitution;
VU Constitutional Law No.92/AN/10/6th L of 19 April 2010 revising the Constitution;
VU The Criminal Laws No. 59/AN/94 and No. 60/AN/94 of 5 January 1995 on the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code respectively;
VU Law No. 28/AN/08/6th L of 21 December 2008 on competition, fraud repression and consumer protection;
VU Law No.72/AN/09/6th L of 21 February 2010 adopting the National Strategy for Trade Development;
VU Law No.134/AN/11/6th L of 1 August 2012 adopting the Djibouti Commercial Code;
VU Act No.55/AN/14/7th L of 25 June 2014 organizing the delegated ministry to the Ministry of Economy and Finance responsible for Trade, SMEs, Craft, Tourism and Formalization;
VU Decree No.2001-0010/PR/MCIA of 15 January 2001 regulating conditioned water for human consumption;
VU Decree No.2008-0087/PRE of 27 March 2008 on the Safety and Health Information Regulations;
VU Decree No.2011-0204/PR/MDC of 24 October 2011 establishing the National Codex Alimentarius Committee;
VU Order No.2012-225/PR/MDC of 17 October 2012 adopting the general standard for labelling prepackaged foodstuffs;
VU Decree No.2016-109/PRE of 11 May 2016 appointing the Prime Minister;
VU Decree No.2016-110/PRE of 12 May 2016 appointing members of the Government;
VU Order No.2016-148/PRE dated 16 June 2016 establishing the responsibilities of departments;
VU Order No.2000-0724/PR/MAEM of 23 September 2000 on marketing standards for certain fishing products, fresh or refrigerated, and for export;
VU Circular No.26/PAN of 30/01/2019 calling for the sixth public session of the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Year 2018/2019.
The Council of Ministers heard in its meeting of 06/11/2018.

PART I:
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter I: Definitions

Article 1: The purpose of this Act is to establish the legal framework for the national system of standardization and quality promotion, as well as the procedures for their development and approval, in accordance with national, regional and international provisions, including the Agreements on Technical Obstacles for Trade, shortened TBT, and on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, shortened SPS, of the World Trade Organization, in shortened WTO.

Article 2: For the purposes of this Act:
- Normalization, the general interest activity that is intended to provide reference documents designated under the standard terms and developed in a consensual manner by all interested parties, covering rules, characteristics, recommendations or examples of good practices relating to products, services, methods, processes or organizations.
- Promotion of quality, implementation of all actions and activities aimed at promoting and using technical instruments that improve the quality of products and services.
- Standard, the document approved by a recognized body, which provides, for common and repeated uses, rules, guidelines or characteristics for related products or processes and production methods, whose compliance is not mandatory.
- Standard approved, the standard made applicable in the Republic of Djibouti by an order made in the Council of Ministers.
- Standard made of mandatory application, the approved standard whose application is made mandatory under a regulatory text or an exclusive reference in a technical regulation.
- Quality, the suitability of a set of intrinsic characteristics of a product, service, process, system to meet the needs or expectations expressed, implied or imposed.
- Metrology, measuring science including scientific, industrial and legal metrology.
- Accreditation, the certificate issued by a competent institution to a conformity assessment body, forming a formal recognition of the competence of the conformity assessment agency to carry out specific conformity assessment activities.
- Certification, the procedure whereby an accredited person gives written assurance that a product, process, service or skill required to perform a professional activity is in accordance with the specified requirements.
- Certificate of conformity, the document issued in accordance with the rules of a certification system, indicating with a sufficient level of confidence that a duly identified product, process or service conforms to a specific standard or other normative document.
- Certification of conformity, issuing a document in accordance with the rules of a certification system, indicating with a level of confidence that a duly identified product, process or service conforms to a specific standard or other normative document.
- Compliance, fact for a specific product or service to meet technical requirements or standards.
- Consensus, the principle that the development of standards takes into account all the opinions of the parties concerned on the basis of a balanced representation.
- Official control, assessment of compliance by observation and judgment accompanied, if necessary, by measurements, tests or calibration carried out by the State or by a body mandated by it.
- Test, the operation to determine certain characteristics of a product according to a specified mode.
- Assessment of conformity, systematic review of the degree of satisfaction of a product, process or service, to the specified requirements.
- Approval, authorization to offer, market, commission or use a product for the purposes or conditions specified.
- Approval of a standard, the decision to recognize a standard by the competent authority.
- Inspection, examination of the design of a product, process or installation and determination of their conformity to specific requirements or, on the basis of a professional judgment, to general requirements made by the State or an agency mandated by it.
- Integration, the principle that the development of standards takes into account the need to integrate the national economy into the regional and international economy.
- National mark of conformity, the mark protected, affixed or issued according to the rules of a certification system indicating with a sufficient level of confidence that a duly identified product, process or service complies with a specific standard or other normative document.
- ND brand, the national mark of compliance with Djiboutian standards managed by the national standardization body.
- Objectivity, the principle that standards are based on the achievements of science, technology, and experience.
- Relevance, the principle that standards meet needs expressed by the market or by the circumstances faced by the national, regional or international community.
- Certifying organism, the body conducting the conformity certification. Organization for Standardization, the body with normative activities recognized at the national, regional or international level, one of the main functions, under its statutes, is the preparation, approval or adoption of standards that are made available to the public.
- Technical Regulation, the document which sets out the characteristics of a product or the processes and methods of production related to it, including the administrative provisions applicable thereto, whose compliance is mandatory. It may also treat, in part or in whole, terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements for a given product, service, process or method of production.
-ISO/CEI (International Organization for Standardization), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC);
- WTO TBT Agreement, the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Technical Barriers;
- WTO SPS Agreement, the Agreement on Sanitary Measures, and Phytosanitaries of the World Trade Organization;
- IOML, International Organization of Legal Metrology

Chapter II: The application field

Article 3: This Act applies to activities designed to ensure the quality of products and services, in particular those related to the development, application and promotion of standards. It covers all areas of activity and aims to support the economic and social development of the Republic of Djibouti.
Djiboutian standards apply equally to any person, foreign or national, engaged in economic activity in the territory of the Republic of Djibouti. They are identified using ND letters ( Djiboutian Standard) and figures (the figures indicate the number of the standard and its year of publication).
In the case of the adoption of regional or international standards, the letters are ND abbreviation followed by other letters.

PART II:
GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Chapter I: General principles of quality

Article 4: The State is implementing a national quality policy in all areas of the public or private sector. To this end, the Government defines the national quality policy and puts in place a system for the development and application of standards within the framework of standardization and metrology, as well as means of quality control of products, goods and services intended for the public.

Article 5: The national quality policy guides the identification of priorities and the adoption of quality promotion measures to stimulate the competitiveness and performance of the Djiboutian economy.
It consists of promoting the economic and social well-being of the population.

Article 6: The national quality policy contributes to the achievement of the overall objectives of the government as part of the development of the Djiboutian economy. This includes:
- sustainable development;
- strengthening the security and well-being of populations;
- the protection of consumers of products and users of public or private services;
- improving the health of populations;
- stimulating exchanges through regional economic integration;
- facilitation of internal and external trade;
- the promotion of investments and the competitiveness of national production (beginning industries);
- supporting innovation and entrepreneurship;
- development of international trade cooperation.

Chapter II: Basic principles of standardization

Article 7: Standardization respects the principles of relevance, objectivity, consensus, integration and implementation. These principles are the basis for the standards development procedures.
A standard is common to many of the business sectors. Areas of activities for which there is no standard exist, the development of draft standards shall be carried out by the national body for standardization and promotion of quality under the conditions provided for in this Act by approval of equivalent regional or international standards.
Stakeholders may voluntarily apply international standards to their business sectors, without failing to register with the national standardization body.

Article 8: In accordance with the principles listed in the previous article, the State:
- grants to the products and services of other WTO member states, with regard to normative measures and authorization procedures, a national treatment not less favourable than that granted to those manufactured or issued in the Republic of Djibouti;
- prepares, adopts, implements and maintains measures relating to standardization, authorization procedures that enable it to achieve its legitimate objectives;
- avoids the development, adoption and application of standards, technical regulations, accreditation procedures, conformity assessment procedures, not required under the WTO Agreement on TBT;
- ensures that intraregional trade is stimulated through the adoption of harmonized regional and continental standards.

Article 9: The national standardization system includes:
- competent public administrations;
- the national standardization body;
- the National Standardization Committee;
- bodies approved by the public authority responsible for standardization as sectoral standardization offices
- the private sector;
- study firms, quality auditors, analytical and test laboratories;
- civil society;
- missions and roles of different standardization actors are defined in regulatory texts.
The national standardization system includes the following standards:
- standards for public use;
- private standards or companies;
- trade standards;
- industrial standards;
- international standards;
- regional standards;
- national standards;
- product standards;
- service standards;
- terminology standards;
- the nonnes of security;
- fundamental norms;
- environmental protection standards.

PART III:
APPROVAL ELABORATION AND STATUS OF NORMS

Chapter I: The Standards Development and Registration Framework

Article 10: Procedures for the development and registration of standards are consistent with the fundamental principles of standardization.

Article 11: It is planned to establish a national standardization body known as the Djibouti Agency for Standardization and Quality Promotion (ADN). The mission of this organization will be to ensure the development and registration of standards, metrology and the assessment of compliance with standards.
The powers, organization and operation of the Djibouti Agency for Standardization and Quality Promotion will be legislated.

Chapter II: Status of standards

Article 12: Standards are voluntary.
However, the standards may be made of mandatory application by a decree signed by the President of the Republic, if reasons for public order, public safety, national defence, protection of health, the environment, the life of people and animals or the preservation of plants, protection of archaeological treasures or imperative requirements for commercial efficiency and consumer defence make such a necessary measure.

Article 13: The introduction or explicit mention of Djiboutian standards or international standards applicable in the Republic of Djibouti under international agreements is mandatory in the terms, specifications and specifications of public procurement.

Chapter III: National brand of compliance

Article 14: A national mark of compliance with the standards known as Djiboutian Standards is established, with abbreviated ND. This national brand is managed by the Djiboutian Agency for Standardization and Quality Promotion.
The conditions for the management and allocation of the national mark are set by regulation.

Chapter IV: Recognition, notification and information on standardization

Article 15: The State opts for the principle of mutual recognition of standardization as a means of guaranteeing the free movement of products, services, processes and systems, and of limiting obstacles to trade between itself and other States, in accordance with the rules established by the regional and international organizations of which it is a member.

Article 16: The State respects the notification and information procedures established by the regional and international organizations of which it is a member.

Article 17: The State shall inform other States and regional and international organizations, of which it is a member, of the notifications it makes to the WTO under the TBT Agreement.
These notifications are based on the format established by the WTO Agreement on TBT.

Article 18: In accordance with these principles, and in order to ensure the free movement of products, services, processes and systems in its territory, the State shall take all necessary measures to determine and eliminate the obstacles identified.

Article 19: Where circumstances so require, the State may conduct an assessment of the risks posed by products, services, processes and systems and be led to maintaining or enacting prohibitions that impede the free movement of such products, services, processes and systems.
Risk assessment includes:
- similar risk assessments by international organizations;
- scientific evidence and all available technical information;
- operating methods, conformity assessment and environmental parameters;
- the technology for the implementation of the product, service, process or system concerned;
- effects of products and services on populations;
- complete and precise uses of this product, service, process or system;
- processes or methods of production that may alter the particularities of the product, service, process or system.

Article 20: The State shall provide to any other requesting State, all information relating to normative activities, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures and accreditation.

PART IV:
METROLOGY

Chapter 1: Measuring units

Article 21: Are considered legal units of measure:
- the units of the international system of units (SI), namely:
(a) the meter, length unit (m);
(b) the kilogram, mass unit (kg);
(c) the second, unit of time (s);
(d) the amp, electric current intensity unit (A) ;
(e) the kelvin, thermodynamic temperature unit (K);
(f) the candela, light intensity unit (cd);
(g) mole, unit of quantity of matter (mol).
- units that do not belong to the international system of units, and that are used in an ordinary way;
- secondary units and derivative units.

Chapter 2: Measurement instruments

Article 22: Measuring instruments imported or manufactured locally with registrations or graduations in legal units are divided into categories. The list of regulated measuring instruments is set by regulation.

Article 23: The attribution of the legal character to an instrument belonging to a regulated class and the conservation of that quality is in accordance with the metrological and technical standards of that class.
Article 24: The metrological and technical standards and characteristics to be met by each class of measuring instruments are set by regulation.

Article 25: Regulated measuring instruments must provide results of traceable measures, expressed in legal units.

Chapter 3: Legal metrological control

Article 26: The legal metrological control includes the following operations:
- approval of a model of measuring instrument or a method or measurement system;
- primitive verification of new or repaired measuring instruments;
- periodic verification of in-service measuring instruments;
- metrological surveillance;
- control of prepackaged products.

Article 27: Are subject to legal metrological control:
(a) Measurement instruments used or intended for use in:
- commercial transactions, the determination of wages or prices of services, the distribution of goods or products, the determination of the quantity of a product;
- tax or post office transactions;
- judicial expertise, use or official control;
- the field of public safety, health and environmental protection;
- any other activity for which the exact measurement guarantee is recognized as public utility by regulatory means,
(b) Measurement instruments used as standard in instrument verification operations.

Article 28: The legal metrological control is carried out by authorized public officials, under the supervision of the competent administrative authority, using benchmarks or reference materials connected to the national reference stallions. The competent administrative authority may entrust the execution of all or part of the legal metrological control operations relating to a specified class of measuring instruments to other bodies accredited for the exercise of such activities.

Article 29: The metrological control operation results in the collection of royalties, the amount of which and the method of recovery are fixed by regulation.

PART V:
DE LA PROMOTION DE LA QUALITE ACCREDITATION ET CONTROLE DE L'APPLICATION DES NORMES

Chapter I: Promoting Quality and Standardization

Article 30: The State may take appropriate measures to promote quality and standardization in secondary and higher education programmes, in accordance with existing regulations.

Article 31: The State ensures the promotion of quality through the incentive of the entire economic fabric to engage in a quality approach.
The State ensures the promotion of standards, including mandatory standards, by accompanying companies in the understanding and respect of nuns.

Chapter II: Accreditation and conformity assessment

Article 32: Accreditation is a voluntary approach that provides objective evidence of compliance with a recognized repository in a continuous performance improvement process.

Article 33: Accreditation will be done through a national, regional and international standardization system.

Article 34: The assessment of compliance with standards is carried out by the standards assessment bodies of standardization, certification and inspection bodies, as well as testing, testing and calibration laboratories.

Article 35: Standards assessment bodies issue quality certificates and certificates of compliance to standards in a manner determined by a regulatory text.

Article 36: Standards assessment bodies are required to be accredited in the manner defined by a regulatory text.

Article 37: The State recognizes as equivalent to its own assessment mechanism, the conformity assessment bodies of other States, when these bodies and their procedures are accredited by regional or international structures of which it is a member, or have been evaluated according to a procedure or system verified and approved by the said structures.

Article 38: Constitutes a presumption of proof of compliance with mandatory Djibouti standards:
- the display on the product of the ND brand;
- the submission of a valid certificate of conformity, failing the affixing to the ND mark product;
- the application, on imported products, of a foreign trademark conforming to the recognized standards equivalent to the ND mark, based on the principles of mutual recognition.

Chapter III: Control of the application of mandatory standards

Article 39: Products, services, processes or systems whose standards are made of mandatory application are subject to official inspection and control under the conditions set by national technical regulations or enacted by regional and international standardization organizations whose state is a member.

Article 40: Official inspection and control of mandatory standards are sworn in with the relevant courts.

Article 41: Inspection and control consists of verification of evidence of compliance with mandatory standards of application, products, services, processes or systems, issued by the certification structures designated by the State.

Article 42: Official inspection and control activities are carried out by the State or by the private bodies mandated by the State under the conditions prescribed by the regulations in force.

Article 43: Sworn people have free access, even unannounced to production, storage, transit, transportation, repair or maintenance facilities.

Article 44: Sworn individuals may collect samples necessary for testing or analysis and require copies of documents they consider necessary for the performance of their mission. Sample sampling is carried out according to existing regulations.

Article 45: The results of the checks are recorded in a report to be held on the contrary. The contrary evidence may be brought by counter-experts to the initiative of any interested party and to the applicant's fees.

Article 46: Minutes are listed in a computer system or any other device that allows the State to monitor the activities of sworn agents.

Article 47: State services have access to the databases of national standards, accreditation, quality control and compliance bodies.

PART VI:
PENAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

Chapter I: Criminal sanctions

Article 48: Any failure to comply with these provisions shall be punishable under the rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the provisions of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act.

Article 49: In the event of recidivism, the fine provided for in the preceding articles may be doubled, in accordance with the rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Chapter II: Administrative sanctions

Article 50: Without prejudice to the criminal penalties provided for in this Act and the Criminal Code, the offender shall be liable to the following administrative penalties:
a. written warning;
b. Prohibition of the sale of goods;
c. seizure of goods;
d. destruction of goods;
e. temporary or final suspension of trademark or compliance certificates;
f. temporary closure of the enterprise;
g. temporary suspension of the exercise of the activity, for a period not exceeding three months.

Article 51: Administrative sanctions are subject to appeal to the competent court. This appeal is not suspensive.

However, the destruction of the goods and the prohibition of sale can only be carried out after all remedies have been exhausted.

Article 52: A regulatory text specifies the modalities and conditions under which administrative sanctions are taken.

Article 53: As of the date of its promulgation, all economic actors and all concerned parties have a period of six (6) months to comply with the provisions of this Act.

PART VII:
FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 54: This Act comes into force upon promulgation.