Shaw encourages Jamaican entities to become accredited
Published:Tuesday | June 11, 2019 | 9:39 AM
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Audley Shaw, is encouraging Jamaican entities to become accredited through the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) in order to lift their standards and elevate their position in the global marketplace.
“As a country, we cannot get to where we are going unless we lift up our standards. And, lifting our standards means that we have to operate not at Jamaica’s standards but at international standards,” Shaw stated.
He was addressing stakeholders at JANAAC’s CEO Breakfast at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew last Friday.
He lauded the agency for its role in providing internationally recognised accreditation and training services to laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies that facilitate international market access while enhancing competitiveness and consumer well-being.
These include public and private sector laboratories offering testing, medical and calibration services; inspection bodies such as the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) and the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division, as well as, certification bodies such as the National Certification Body of Jamaica.
Shaw noted that JANAAC holds the distinction of being the only internationally recognised accreditation body in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer, JANAAC, Sharonmae Shirley, said that the number of bodies accredited by JANAAC has grown from eight to more than 32 over the last five years and continues to climb.
She stated that JANAAC provides technical training for personnel working within Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and facilitates the sharing of technical information with stakeholders. She informed that the agency is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation’s (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for the International Organization for Standardization-International/Electro-technical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025 testing laboratories scope.
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