Quality Requirements and Standards

  • Overview
  • 1. National Quality Standards
  • 2. International Standards and Requirements

Overview

Before starting to export, you need to make sure that your product abides with all the local and international quality requirements to be eligible to enter a certain country. Ensuring that your products meet all those regulations will make your market entry faster and more cost-efficient.

1. National Quality Standards

Manufacturing companies in Lebanon need to abide by the national quality standards, which are issued by the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR), the sole national standardization body which is entitled to authorize the use of the Lebanese Conformity Mark proving the compliance of products to Lebanese standards.

Companies that need to inquire about the national standards for their specific products can request the documents from LIBNOR against a small fee. These documents provide all information on approved technical specifications. Companies can also pursue ISO international standards through the “Online Store for ISO Standards and Publications” from LIBNOR’s website.

The Ministry of Industry is the entity responsible for inspecting and monitoring whether companies are abiding by the general quality and safety requirements. For agriculture and agro-food companies, the Ministry of Agriculture is also in charge of the inspection to ensure that food safety measures are in place. Entities that are found to be compliant, are assigned a health registration number, which is a prerequisite to export or sell these products on the local market. You can check the general quality and safety requirements for agro-food industries in Lebanon published by the Ministry of Industry on its website.

2. International Standards and Requirements

In addition to local quality market requirements, exporters need to abide by foreign standards and quality requirements to be able to access those markets.

Today, there are more than 60 accredited laboratories from both public and private sectors, including the National Research Institute (IRI) that can help exporters test their products and certify that they are conforming to international standards and regulations.

You can check the full list of accredited laboratories under our Trade Support section which can help in testing your products and provide you with the needed quality certificates.

Throughout the export process, it is the responsibility of the exporter to ensure that the goods shipped are in conformity with the relevant local and international requirements.

Occasionally, some countries impose non-tariff barriers on certain products. These barriers take on several forms. For example, in some cases, the importing country might require inspection of the products prior to arrival by an internationally recognized inspection body such as Bureau Veritas, SGS, and Apave. You always need to be up-to-date on all the regulations to avoid any surprises and delays for customs clearance in your target country.

Tips

  • Sector-specific tools
  • You can check our market information section on the Lebtrade platform to get the latest information on quality requirements for selected agriculture and agro-food products.
  • If you want to export agriculture or agro-food products to selected markets, you can check the Tasdier platform developed by the Federation of the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce in 2017. The tool centralizes export requirements for agro-food products and provides exporters with data on technical requirements and customs regulations for their exports.
  • Country or region-specific tools
  • If you are looking to export to the EU, make sure to familiarize yourself with the access2markets tool that provides information on market requirements in EU countries. The tool provides statistics, information on EU technical, safety, and labelling requirements, information on rules of origin, Value Added Tax, and other duties in each EU country as well as other useful information.
  • CBI’s quality requirements section also provides quality requirements and standards by product to selected EU countries.
  • If you want to compare food safety regulations in EU countries, check the EU food safety portal that provides, in a user-friendly way, all the requirements for processed food products as well as products of animal and plant origin.
  • If you want to export to countries in the Euro Mediterranean region, it is best to check the Euromed Trade Helpdesk. The tool is a free one-stop-shop online portal that provides product-specific information on tariffs and duties, import and export procedures, and market requirements in the Euro Mediterranean Region.
  • If you want to export to the US, it is best to check the US customs and border protection website to understand latest regulations related to quality requirements.
  • Global market requirements tools
  • For your desk research, it is important to consult the Global Trade Helpdesk that offers valuable information, such as a summary of market potential, regulatory requirements, procedures, and potential buyers/partners in specific countries.
  • Compare between various potential markets by analyzing their market requirements through using the ITC Market Access Map tool. The tool is a free portal that allows users to compare market access restrictions for more than 150 countries. Data tracked by the tool includes customs tariffs, tariff rate quotas, trade remedies, and regulatory requirements by products.