On GNBS initiative…
THE Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) observed World Accreditation Day on Wednesday, under the theme ‘Global Acceptance’ and introduced its National Accreditation Focal Point.
Speaking on the occasion, in the Essequibo Room of Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown, Head of GNBS Conformity Assessment Department, Ms. Candelle Walcott-Bostwick gave an overview, in which she said the focal point is, basically, the area for accreditation locally, because this country does not have an accreditation body.
She said accreditation is required to boost competitiveness in the local economy, facilitate the acceptance of goods and services on the global market and create confidence in work done by inspection, testing, calibration and certification.
Walcott-Bostwick said it is formal recognition that a laboratory is competent to perform a specific test that is defined in its scope of operations and those results are accepted internationally. It is also a marketing advantage and a benchmark for performance giving international recognition.
She said CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) has been responsible for a number of initiatives, one of which is the Caribbean Laboratory Accreditation Service (CLAS) project, funded by the Ninth European Development Fund (EDF) to improve the quality of laboratory services across the region, with the intention of having laboratories accredited to international standards.
Walcott-Bostwick said, under that project, it was decided to establish accreditation focal points in each country that does not have the relevant body, as only Trinidad and Jamaica have such bodies in the region.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, in the feature address, commended the International Accreditation Forum (IFA) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for coming together, in 2008, when they agreed to have the observance to ensure that people become aware of the need for accreditation.
He recognised, too, that “it is a necessity if we are to improve our lives” and it all comes down to trust.
Ramsammy said the Private Sector, in particular, but, as a country, Guyana must recognise that “this good thing of accreditation can be a tool used by the powerful to also create barriers.”
He said familiarity with accreditation and standards must not only be at the level needed to produce certain standard products.
“But, as a country, we will have to be able to stand tall and firm because, as we negotiate on the international stage, if we are not familiar, we will have imposed on ourselves standards that are unfair and only established not for quality and safety but to restrict the movement of our services and products,” Ramsammy cautioned.

DIFFERENT LEVELS

He said, therefore, different levels must be looked at, noting that it is not just a matter of competitiveness and reaching certain standards set by other people.
“It must be based on one criterion, safety,” Ramsammy insisted.
He said: “We have to protect our interest” and he alluded to the establishment, in the early 1990s, of the GNBS by law, which was an important step that Guyana took and the role of CROSQ in the region.
“I believe that Guyana has made important advances and I believe that we, in Guyana and the Caribbean, need to even further intensify and accelerate the efforts we are making, not only to create our own national and regional standards, but to always participate and contribute to the development of global standards, to ensure that we are part of a quality revolution, that we are part of creating safety measures but that we are never placed at a disadvantage,” Ramsammy stated.
He disclosed that, globally, there are about 30,000 laboratories which have now been accredited, with only 16 in the region, six being medical ones.
In terms of laboratories, Ramsammy said Guyana took a step forward with one of its early GNBS initiatives being the requirement for medical labs to become registered.
“And now, of course, we are intensifying our efforts to go beyond registration but to achieve accreditation,” he confirmed.
About the creation of CLAS, Ramsammy said Guyana, indeed, is playing a leading role and is way ahead of many countries in terms of establishing an accreditation system.
He recalled that, in 2008, the Health Facilities Licensing Act was enacted, requiring hospitals and labs to implement the GY 170 laboratory standards for licensing purposes.
Ramsammy reported that a few laboratories meet this standard and said: “We, in Guyana, need to pay closer attention and consumers need to demand that those standards are met.”
He said there is a need for a greater commitment, from the public health sector and the public sector, to meeting those standards.
“From the Government perspective, we expect this not because we want to be more competitive than anyone but we want to ensure that consumers are accessing services and products that are safe, that they can use them and they can trust the supplier,” Ramsammy explained.
He continued: “I, genuinely, believe that, as we talk about our country developing and meeting our expectation to be better, standards and accreditation must be part of that developmental agenda.
“I believe that meeting these standards and realising accreditation in our business, in our services, in whatever we do, is not an option and I believe that consumers ought to demand that this is not an option of the providers of services or products.
“If we, as citizens, can stand firm on the need for standards and safety that are verified by accreditation processes, we can, at least, guarantee ourselves that our country would be better.”
Ramsammy suggested that, at the very least, it should be established, as a prerequisite, that “we are all committed to achieving the highest standards.”
He said that is what is being done with all the health facilities.

BETTER LIVES

Reminding that World Blood Donors Day will be observed this coming week, Ramsammy said: “Standards and accreditation are not only the services we produce or the products we produce. It is also our commitment to creating better lives. Every citizen of Guyana should commit to either becoming a donor or to be an advocate for donation.”
President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GM&SA), Mr. Clinton Williams, in his speech, said his organisation, in assuring international accreditation for its membership, declared that it has now become a vital mandatory requirement among businesses that are engaged in international trade, whether categorised as a manufacturing concern or as a service provider.
“In this context, it would seem logical that the accreditation mechanism would, of necessity, rank highest among any evaluation criteria that any investor would wish to make in pursuit of any sound investment,” he said.
Executive Director of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Roubinder Rambarran said the necessity for businesses to become competitive for investment has some consequences for non-compliance with standards.
He said there are some instances where local businesses are deemed to be uncompetitive for investment because of non-compliance with the international standards and there are some cases where those businesses tried to expand their operations abroad by seeking to export their
products and investors showed interest but the former could not realise the objective, mainly because they were not complying with the international benchmarks.
Rambarran conceded that it is imperative that businesses move to achieve competitiveness, particularly, in light of the new era of globalisation and he highlighted some of the broad measures to be addressed to achieve it, focusing on the importance of receiving certification as a necessary means of achieving the goal in the new global environment.
Other speakers on the occasion were Ms. Shonellie Roberts, of Caricom Rice Mills, who spoke on ‘The role of standards in the quest for global acceptance’ and GNBS Technical Officer, Ms. Rodlyn Semple whose topic was ‘Services of the Conformity Assessment Department’.