General Standards
Standards organizations
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is the leading standardization body of the country. The Bureau is administered by a National Standards Council and represents a structure under the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, Industry and Commerce. One of the goals of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards is to improve the quality of goods and services in Guyana through the process of standardization. GNBS' mission is to promote standardization for economic development and consumer protection through standards development, promotion and implementation, metrology services and conformity assessment.
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards has six departments:
1. Standardization
2. Conformity Assessment
3. Metrology/ Standards Compliance
4. Laboratory Services
5. Information Services
6. Administration and Finance
The GNBS' programmes are oriented towards consumer protection, technical assistance for industry and facilitation of trade.
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards offers the following services:
- testing and calibration
- providing standards information
- conducting quality audits
- certification of products
- providing technical assistance to industries
- verification of weighting and measuring devices
Conformity Assessment
The GNBS does not have any testing facilities. The agency relies upon local bodies, such as the Institute of Applied Science and Technology, and on foreign bodies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), for its testing.
Product Certification
The GNBS provides third-party certification based on conformance to national standards. Products certified by the GNBS are entitled to use the GNBS’ standards mark, which indicates to local consumers that GNBS certification has been received. Imported commodities should have a national or international certification mark from a regulatory body in the country of origin or a “Certificate of Quality Compliance” from an independent certification body.
The goal of the GNBS' product certification scheme is to implement and monitor product certification systems in industries to provide assurance to local and foreign markets that locally manufactured products conform to the requirements specified in the relevant Guyana Standards.
The objectives of the product certification scheme are the following:
- ensure that products under the Scheme are conforming to relevant requirements (Guyana Standard, STI, Quality Control manual where applicable, and PC policies/guidelines) on a continuous basis;
- approve the use of the Standards Mark on products meeting the requirements of the GNBS Product Certification Scheme;
- operate the GNBS certification system to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17065
Accreditation
Presently Guyana does not maintain any accredited laboratories.
Contacts
Guyana National Bureau of Standards
Website: http://www.gnbsgy.org/
E-mail: info@gnbsgy.org
Address: Flat 15, Sophia Exhibition Complex Sophia, Georgetown, Guyana
Tel: +592 219 0062
Fax: +592 219 0070
