GCC Accreditation Center

The GCC Accreditation Center (GAC) is the official accreditation body of the Gulf Cooperation Council, established in 2005 and headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. GAC operates under the mandate of the GCC Secretariat General to provide accreditation services to conformity assessment bodies — including calibration laboratories, testing laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies — across all six GCC member states: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. In the context of halal certification, GAC plays a pivotal structural role: it accredits the halal certification bodies that are authorised to issue halal certificates recognised across the GCC region. Any international certification organisation seeking GCC-wide recognition for its halal certificates must obtain or align with GAC accreditation. This makes GAC a de facto gateway for exporters targeting the combined GCC food and consumer goods import market, which exceeds USD 50 billion annually. GAC is a signatory member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), giving its accreditation decisions international standing under the multilateral recognition arrangement (MLA/MRA) framework. GAC also holds a mutual recognition agreement with Russia's accreditation body and participates in the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) network. GAC accreditation aligns with OIC/SMIIC halal standards and the GSO (GCC Standardization Organization) halal framework, ensuring that accredited certification bodies meet the technical and procedural requirements applied uniformly across GCC markets. For certification bodies seeking to issue certificates accepted in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, GAC accreditation is the essential credential. For exporters and manufacturers, understanding which certification bodies hold GAC accreditation is critical when selecting a halal certifier for GCC market access — particularly for high-value food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics exports.