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.

Conformity Assessment
ECAE was established in February 2011 as a federal Public Enterprise, governed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. ECAE is the major conformity assessment organization in the country providing inspection, laboratory testing and certification services to the public and to industry.

Product Certification
Imports that are required to have product certification i.e. a Certificate of Analysis, are foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. ESA is working on requirements to certify additional products in areas where there is strong consumer interest and a competitive market environment.

Accreditation
ENAO was established in 2011 to accredit, by formal third-party recognition, the competence of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) to perform specific activities, such as tests, calibrations, certifications or inspections. Through the ENAO, the first Ethiopian Management Systems Certification Body has been accredited by the German Association for Accreditation based on the ISO 9001 standard in areas of agriculture and fishing; food, beverage, and tobacco products; textile products; leather products; chemical products and fibers; rubber and plastic products; concrete, cement, lime, plaster, and other construction products; and educational products. ENAO also provides accreditation service to laboratory certified bodies and inspection bodies both domestic and foreign.

Publication of technical regulations
Proposed technical regulations are regularly published by the ESA. U.S. companies should contact the ESA with comments on any proposed regulations. Final regulations are published in the national gazette, the Negarite Gazetta, after they are passed into law. ESA also maintains close working relations with the international Electro-technical Commission (IEC) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

NIST Notify U.S. Service
Ethiopia is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but has long been in the accession process. Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other Member countries. Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail subscription service that offers an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect your access to international markets. Register online at Internet URL: www.nist.gov/notifyus.  
 

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