There is a new chairperson at the helm of the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).
Dr. Renae Ferguson-Bufford, who is also Director of the Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ), was selected to office during the 31st Meeting of the Council of CROSQ, held in St. Kitts and Nevis in October. She takes over the reins from outgoing chairman, Mr. Jose Trejo, Director of the Belize Bureau of Standards.
In her incoming remarks, Dr. Ferguson-Bufford underscored her satisfaction with the work the CROSQ network of standards, metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment bodies has been engaged in over the years and her willingness to work through the CROSQ Secretariat to continue the work.
“I would really like to thank the CROSQ Council for the faith it has placed in me to take on this mantle of leadership. I know this is a great responsibility to lead the network of bureaux and I promise to strive to do what I can to ensure that the success we have enjoyed under past leaders continues. I would like to also thank our past directors who have led this body of agencies for the work they have done and the path they have blazed for me to continue,” said the incoming chairperson.
The new chair, took over from Belize Bureau of Standards Director, Mr. Jose Trejo, and will serve alongside Mrs. Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, Director of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, who is Vice Chair.
Dr. Fergusson-Bufford shared her vision for what she would like to achieve during her tenure in the post:
“I believe my role as chairperson is to further progress the mandate of CROSQ and to expand its profile internationally; both in presence and voice. In fulfilling this vision and mission, as well as to ensure the strategic goals are being carried out effectively and efficiently and that regional initiatives are guided by individual national priorities, I will continue the governance, advocacy, and outreach effort to all, so as to support the sustainable production and trade of goods and services in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and beyond.”
Dr. Ferguson-Bufford noted that during the tenure of the last two chairpersons, Mrs. Anthea Ishmael of the Barbados National Standards Institute and Mr. Jose Trejo, there was considerable work done to produce a Regional Quality Policy, and this was one of the initiatives she would like to see implemented during her term in office.
“I am in full agreement with the objectives as set out in our Regional Quality Policy and share the sentiments of our past directors that with this policy in place we can, as a region, really begin examining how we make quality a part of all our everyday life in nation building. If we want to see our competitiveness increase and level of innovation improved in the region, we have to be serious about making sure quality improvement systems are an integral part of our productive environment, and so I look forward to continuing that drive at the regional level to ensuring this thinking gets pride of place in action at the national level,” she said.
But her mandate, she noted, would also include ensuring that the Bahamas bureau continued its current path of development as well.
“At the bureau, we have a team of qualified, well trained Bahamians, who have demonstrated the competence, ability, dedication and commitment to ensure that every function of the Bureau is developed to achieve its objectives and by extension the overall value of the BBSQ as outlined in our Strategic Plan.
“In the past three to four years we have made significant strides at development, thanks to the efforts of the CROSQ fraternity of Member States and other external financing and technical assistance agencies. I know we will continue our trajectory of growth that will enable us not only to help our own citizens, but the rest of CARICOM as well by contributing to the development of our Regional Quality Infrastructure.”
