St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards (SVGBS) recently shared its big plans for the new headquarters, which will help to further develop quality infrastructure in the archipelago.
A two-day mission by the CROSQ Secretariat’s CEO, Mr. Deryck Omar; Finance Manager, Mr. Mohan Nandwani, and Technical Officer, Quality Promotions, Ms. Latoya Burnham at the end of February sought to examine the developments since the last mission in 2019, and also explore opportunities for future support.
CEO, Mr. Omar noted that meetings with Director of the SVGBS, Mr. Ezra Ledger; various government representatives and agencies, as well as the SVGBS staff, had examined various areas in which the CROSQ could provide support.
“We discussed what the current and future quality infrastructure needs of the SVGBS were, the kinds of services it currently provides and where the demand exists for either the services it currently provides or expanded offerings. We discussed more involvement of the bureau in national economic development, where QI can support burgeoning industries, and also provide the sectors like agriculture with training in food safety management systems
“From a regional standpoint, SVGBS also fits into the development of regional quality infrastructure, as a Council member, beneficiary and as a supplier of services and expertise from which others can gain. Officers sit on CROSQ’s regional technical committees, so they contribute their own skills and knowledge in this way; added to this, St Vincent and the Grenadines also benefits from CROSQ’s various projects and initiatives,” said the CEO.
As metrology (the science of weights and measurements), is one of the prominent services offered by the SVGBS nationally, the further development of this quality infrastructure area was one of the keenly discussed topics during visits with various government departments, as well as the numerous courtesy calls by the CEO and Finance Manager. The support of the bureau for further quality initiatives in agriculture, was another key area highlighted and discussed as well as the potential certification of the bureau itself, with CROSQ’s project management and technical support to the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.
The mission also gave the opportunity to dialogue with the Committee for the development of the country’s National Quality Awards (NQA). The Technical Officer, Quality Promotions met with local bureau staff who have been leading the charge for St Vincent and the Grenadines to develop its own NQA, a reward scheme for businesses who use and excel in implementing quality systems in their operations.
The NQA is an initiative of the Technical Barriers to Trade Component of the 11th European Development Fund, Economic Partnership Agreement Programme, which is being implemented in CARICOM by the CROSQ Secretariat.
The SVGBS has thus far advanced several aspects of its NQA with the technical assistance of the Secretariat and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, and financial assistance from the project. The mission provided the opportunity to review the progress made thus far, discuss challenges, and plan next steps to St Vincent and the Grenadines launching its awards in coming months.
