Bahamas Minister of Financial Services, Hon. Hope Strachan (centre) signing the MOU, while Permanent Secretary, Mr. David Davis and Director of The Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality, Dr. Renae Ferguson-Bufford look on.
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Nassau, Bahamas - As
the newest standards bureau in the region, The Bahamas Bureau of Standards and
Quality (BBSQ) is now well on the way to enhancing its offering of
accreditation and measurement standardisation services with the signing of two
Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for
Standards and Quality (CROSQ) recently.
Minister of Financial Services, Hon. C. V. Hope
Strachan, under whose portfolio the BBSQ resides, signed the documents on April
30, 2015, to establish the Caribbean Cooperation for Accreditation (CCA) Scheme,
and to recognise the Bureau of Standards Jamaica’s (BSJ) Mass Metrology
Laboratory as the Caribbean Reference Laboratory (CaRL) for Mass Metrology.
Accreditation, which is a third-party
attestation, refers to the demonstration of competence in certification,
inspection and testing, by a conformity assessment body. The CCA Scheme brings
together such bodies for the purpose of mutual cooperation and collaboration
toward facilitating trade in the Caribbean region and internationally. CROSQ
coordinates the support services for these facilities.
Metrology, on the other hand, is the science of
measurement; and the CaRL Scheme is aimed at providing economical and
sustainable traceability in specific quantities by National Metrology
Institutes (NMI) within the region. A CaRL is a metrology
laboratory within a NMI or Designated Institute in the CARICOM region,
recognised by CROSQ as a regional reference lab for a specific measurement
quantity or magnitude within a defined scope.
The signing of the two documents have begun the process of moving the
national standards body, BBSQ in The Bahamas, from its early conceptual phase
into being the premier institution in the country for quality infrastructure
services.
With the CCA Scheme in place, the BBSQ will be better able to access
economical and readily available
accreditation services through the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation
(JANAAC) and the Trinidad and Tobago Laboratory Accreditation Service (TTLABS);
be able to facilitate the development of regional quality infrastructure as
well as facilitate regional and international trade; provide avenues for
manufacturers to expand their markets, as well as give them local access to
internationally recognised conformity assessment services, among other
benefits.
Being a signatory to the CaRL MOU for Mass Metrology
will mean that the BBSQ will have access to calibrations at reduced cost from
the Bureau of Standards Jamaica for its national reference mass standards. This
will translate into a reduced cost for maintaining the traceability of mass
measurements in The Bahamas. Additionally, the BBSQ will be able to access
technical assistance from the BSJ mass metrology experts, which will prove
especially important as the BBSQ now develops its capability in this area.
Director of the BBSQ, Dr. Ferguson-Bufford was particularly heartened
by the signing of the CaRL MOU between the Bureau of Standards Jamaica, and the
Government of The Bahamas. She noted that the role of the CaRL
was
to provide measurement
traceability to the Caribbean region by serving as the ‘entry point’ of the
highest measurement capability within the region characterised by having an
international recognised quality management system, the smallest measurement
uncertainty and highest technical capability in the region.
The completion of the CCA MOU will happen when
the CROSQ Council meets in Barbados this week, from May 6 – 8, to set that
scheme in motion and empower the Bahamian bureau as far as accreditation
services are concerned.
“We have been working for quite some time to get
the Bureau of Standards in The Bahamas up and running effectively and the
signing of these MOUs demonstrate a commitment to making our country one of the
regional leaders of quality infrastructure. We have been sensitizing Bahamians
on the importance and benefits of standards, and also promoting and
implementing quality services into everything that we do. Now, the Bureau has
more power to begin to offer the services that our private and public sectors
need to make them more competitive on regional and international markets.
“I would like to thank Minister Strachan for
committing to the process all the way, as well as to the CARICOM Regional
Organization for Standards & Quality (CROSQ) for lending the technical
assistance to get us to this point, and their continued commitment to ensure
that we are fully operational. As the
‘new kid on the block’ as far as regional QI is concerned, we know a lot is
expected and we will strive, harder than ever, to live up to those
expectations,” said Dr. Ferguson-Bufford.
This move towards further development of the
BBSQ has been made possible through funding by the European Union through the
10th European Development Fund Economic Partnership Agreement
Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme, focusing on Technical Barriers to
Trade.