AS Guyana prepares for the economic boom from oil and gas, more companies are requesting technical assistance and training from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), the agency’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Lloyd David said.

Noting more of these local companies, across the various sectors are becoming certified to international standards, David said so far for 2019, three companies, namely Mines Services Limited, Nand Persaud and Company Limited and Power Producers and Distribution Incorporated have attained international certification.

He explained that GNBS technical support to Mines Services Limited began in mid-2017, and in March of 2019, the company attained ISO 9001:2015 certification.

The journey by Mines Services to ISO 9001 certification was initiated by a request from the company to the GNBS for technical assistance, he said.

After an initial meeting in July 2017 between the two parties, David said the implementation of the quality management system commenced.

“Included in the process was an awareness session, a gap analysis, training on the requirements of the standard and other activities identified to fulfil the requirements of the standard,” David said.

A similar approach was taken by GNBS to offer support to Nand Persaud and Company Limited and Power Producers and Distribution Incorporated, which were both certified in the first quarter of this year.

Through technical support from the GNBS, these companies were certified to the ISO 22000:2005 Food Safety Management System Standard and the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Standard, respectively.

Since 2017, he said other public and private companies utilised the services of the GNBS towards certification or accreditation to international standards.

These include Caricom Rice Mills Limited (ISO 9001 and ISO 22000), Assuria General (GY) Inc. & Assuria Life (ISO 9001), the Guyana Rice Development Board Central Laboratory (ISO/IEC 17025), the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) (ISO /IEC 17025), Eureka Medical Laboratories Inc.(ISO 15189) and the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital.

“These achievements confirm the ability of local businesses to implement international standards using local expertise. This not only facilitates market access but also improves their operations and ability to satisfy their customers,” the PRO said.

Through the GNBS Consultancy/technical programme, companies in Guyana can enhance their competitiveness through the ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management System), ISO 15189 (Medical Laboratories – Requirements for Quality and Competence Standards) and certification as well as accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 (Competence of testing and Calibration Laboratories).