GNBS symposium among Quality Week activities programme
REPRESENTATVES of about 50 businesses attended a standards symposium yesterday, as part of Quality Week activities.
It focused on promoting the theme, ‘International Standards – Creating Confidence Globally’, for World Standards Day to be celebrated today. The discussion was organised by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and, according to the Head of Conformity Assessment Department, Ms. Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, the common purpose was to sensitise businesses on the role of standardisation in enhancing sustainable development.
In addition to this, the manufacturers, service providers, regulators and other key stakeholders had all gathered at the Regency Suites Hotel, on Hadfield Street, Georgetown, to acknowledge that ISO standards can have a positive impact on business.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad, in a message read in his absence, noted that, as investors enter into the local market, there must be an enabling environment to sustain their businesses and local manufacturers must be able to compete with products and services brought.
“In order for Guyana to create confidence in its products and services, we must promote the Guyana brand, which will emphasise the uniqueness of Guyana’s culture. We must sell our products with pride,” he challenged.
Prashad emphasised that the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has developed a wide cross-section to help businesses achieve quality in their production, the implementation of which allows for improved standards and consistency.
These include the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, which gives assurance that an organisation can provide consistent quality products and services to customers and the ISO 14001 environmental management system, which declares the commitment of an organisation to monitor its environmental impacts and reduce pollution.
According to Prashad, a company adhering to this standard will certainly support the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and can then brand itself as a ‘Green Company’, another marketing tool usable for trade.
The ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System provides a framework of internationally harmonised requirements for the global approach that is needed, implementation of this can guarantee the safety of foods produced for human consumption, he highlighted.
However, the Commerce Minister, while acknowledging the need for international standards, underscored the importance of local businesses creating their own standards for products and services which will meet and exceed the global market.
“Creating our own standards will allow Guyana to set international standards to facilitate trade and economic development,” he urged.
Ms. Walcott-Bostwick reiterated that the annual event was aimed at encouraging local business to implement standards, in recognition of globalisation and the increase in international trade.
She explained that, despite the fact that there are, presently, 11 companies in Guyana that are ISO certified, the objective is to raise this number so that even more of them will be able to offer high quality products.
“When we implement international standards, it creates confidence and we get better market access for our products and services,” Walcott-Bostwick noted.