SVG Bureau of Standards hosts Quality Management Systems training

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Bureau of Standards in collaboration with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standard and Quality (CROSQ) is this week hosting a workshop on Quality Management Systems.

The Quality Management Systems Training is financed by €4.5 million under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Programme.

Delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony yesterday May 27, 2024, at the conference facility of LaVue Hotel, Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar, who has responsibility for the Bureau of Standards, said the workshop aims to ensure that stakeholders increase their competitiveness. As it pertains to agriculture, Caesar said the challenge to meet local, regional and international standards is an issue that has to be addressed.

Executive director at the Bureau of Standards, Ezra Ledger, pointed out that globalization has challenged traditional producers to reflect on quality. He said the objective of the workshop is to train and bring sensitization to stakeholders in the public and private sectors to help boost their competitiveness.

Ledger also welcomed the training opportunity not only to bring awareness to the stakeholders but to foster investment in quality capacity to further develop and implement quality management systems in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  He said the Bureau is also moving to introduce a certified quality management system within the next two years to serve as a badge of competence and confidence in their service delivery.

Meanwhile, Consultant of the Quality Systems, Solutions and Initiatives Dr. Sheryl Anderson said she is happy to be in this country to deliver the Quality Management Systems Training.

“We just don’t want to take Quality Management Systems from a theoretical point of view but from the applicability and the implementable point of view and this is the design of training,” she said. She added that the week long workshop would be used to ensure that the Quality Management Systems being introduced are of an international standard. Areas being addressed are the development of policies and procedures; technical specifications of product and service quality; the difference between quality control and quality assurance; risks towards achieving objectives; and gap assessment of the participating agencies for international certification. (API)