SLBS Pitches for Improved Standards

IN order for the business sector to be efficient, there must be some level of trust, which can be delivered through the implementation and enforcement of standards, agreements, codes and regulations that ensures consumers get what they pay for. As such, a recent national dialogue on improving standards seemed only appropriate to achieving that goal.

Improved standards were the focal point being discussed when the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) held its National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) Symposium at Sandals Halcyon recently. Local and foreign experts met to consider the importance of an NQI for enhanced economic development by underscoring the importance of standardization, testing, measurements, certification and accreditation.

Chairman of SLBS’ Standards Council, Thomas Edmund, said that while speaking with one voice on the subject of NQI on a national level was not usually the norm, the aim of the symposium was to provide “a real platform to catapult us forward”. He said the timing of the symposium – around Independence — was in itself symbolic.

“This may be one of the milestones to take our country from the status of a (developing) country to that of a developed country with a greater focus on the continued development of a National Quality Infrastructure,” he said.

From those discussions, it is hoped that the embracing of an NQI can lead to the developing of a culture of quality consciousness that promotes higher levels of productivity, innovation, export competitiveness and consumer health and environmental protection through improved quality of goods and services. The SLBS hoped that the development of a globally-recognized, demand-oriented quality infrastructure would be the end-result.

Representatives from governmental institutions, national and regional private sector and business support organizations, manufacturers, exporters, service providers and civil society attended the symposium which hoped to make doing business more viable, affordable and competitive.

Minister for Commerce, Bradly Felix, lauded the timeliness of the symposium, saying that government was in the process of planning the national budget that should begin the process of transforming Saint Lucia’s economy so to achieve the goal of doubling the present GDP (gross domestic product) in ten years. He said that goal cannot be achieved unless citizens embraced quality standards and understood its correlation to improving efficiency and productivity.

“The NQI is a tool for competitiveness, trade and social wellbeing. It is the institutional framework that establishes and implements standardization, including conformity assessment services, metrology and accreditation,” Felix explained.

Felix said government’s role was crucial in promoting a comprehensive quality infrastructure which aids in achieving government’s policy objectives in areas such as industrial development, trade competitiveness, food safety, health environmental management, climate change and efficient use of our natural and human resources.

“We as a government are anxious to promote the NQI for its completeness and its potential for addressing the needs of the nation’s private and public sectors, consumers and all stakeholders, so that the products and services offered in Saint Lucia are the best,” Felix said.

Felix said that through the creation of a National Quality Infrastructure, Saint Lucia would be positioned to increase the level of confidence of its trading partners, markets and consumers in its quality of products and services. However, he said charity should begin at home.

“We want to ensure that our people have the same expectations for standards accepted globally to make our country attractive to investors,” Felix said. “The application in insisting on a National Quality Infrastructure will allow us to position ourselves alongside the best in the world.”