Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo - 1.2 Democratic Republic of Congo Regulatory Departments
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Regional Organizations and Trade Agreements 

DRC is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is one of the 21 Member States forming the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the largest Regional Economic Community (REC) in Africa.  
DRC has become the 7th Partner State of the East African Community (EAC) last July 2022 and is also a member of the following regional organizations: 

  • Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS

  • Southern African Development Community (SADC

  • African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI

  • Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (ECGLC) 

Regulatory Agencies 

DRC has numerous regulatory bodies to set standards of the economy and then to enforce those standards: 
 
Control and Quality Assurance: The Office Congolais de Control (OCC) conducts inspection, certification, testing or analysis and metrology of products (import-export, locally made) with reference to national, regional and/or international standards. 
 
Telecommunication: The Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications (ARPTC) ensures compliance with laws, regulations and conventions in the field of posts and telecommunications. 
 
Civil Aviation Authority: The Autorité de l’Aviation Civile de la République Démocratique du Congo (AAC) guarantees the operations, the safety, security, regularity, economy, and efficiency of the national aeronautical activity. 
 

Energy: The Autorité de Régulation du Secteur de l’Electricité (ARE) monitors and controls the application of the principles and rules of transparency, free competition, standards and norms in the electricity sector. 

Pharmaceutical: The Agence Congolaise de Réglementation Pharmaceutique (ACOREP) protects the public health through the establishment of adequate regulation and a control system for pharmaceutical and medical products, request of as well as  managing permit requests  for importing medicine import in country (Direction de la Pharmacie et du Médicament

Laboratory and quality testing companies 

The Office Congolais de Control (OCC) conducts inspection, certification, testing or analysis and metrology of products (import-export, locally made) with reference to national, regional and/or international standards. 

The Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) is a public establishment under to the Ministry of Health with the aim to contribute to the improvement of the health of the population by biomedical analyzes, biomedical research, surveillance of diseases with epidemic potential… 
 
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. IITA runs a laboratory in Bukavu with the latest technology and equipment. 

The Laboratoire National de Contrôle de Qualité des produits de santé (LNCQ) is a new public institution inaugurated last December 2021 with the aim to perform drug quality control and monitoring. 
 
The International Modern laboratory (IML) is providing diagnostic services with a wide range of test (e.g. biochemistry, parasitology, microbiology…) in Lubumbashi. 

Inspections Companies & Pre-shipment inspection 

Bureau Veritas BIVAC is operating in DRC as an appointed company by OCC and performings pre-export verification of goods imported into the country to enhance the compliance of products to Congolese or international standards (Ministerial decree No. 003/CAB/MIN.COM.EXT/2017 dd. 03/04/2017). 
 
For more information on regulatory departments and quality control laboratories’ contact details, please see the following links:4.1 Government Contact List and 4.3 Laboratory and Quality Testing Company Contact List.
 

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