BSJ Food Chemistry Lab Receives JANAAC Certification

The country’s testing facilities have gained further international recognition with the recent certification of the food testing chemistry laboratory, at the Bureau of Standards (BSJ), by the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC).

State Minister for Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, notes that some 70 markets across the globe have full confidence in Jamaica’s testing systems.

“It means that clients who use these facilities can be confident that the results generated by this lab are accurate,” Minister Ffolkes-Abrahams said while addressing a ceremony where the certification document was presented to the BSJ by JANAAC, on Wednesday, April 30, at the Knutsford Court Hotel, in St. Andrew.

“This is a significant move forward for the Bureau, and for the country. The goods certified by a JANAAC accredited laboratory, such as the BSJ Chemistry Lab, will not be held up at the ports in these countries and re-checked. This is a green light for our exporters,” the State Minister added.

She explained that exporters have had their goods re-checked at major ports in other countries where they have to pay for lab analysis and storage, and also face risk of loosing shelf space in the market of the importing territories.

She declared that “by using a laboratory accredited by JANAAC, exporters not only save time, they also save valuable foreign exchange.”

The accrediting agency is among 70 countries that are signatories to the Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC MRA).

It has met the requirements to be registered with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and will be carrying out that process shortly.

Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams said JANAAC is enabling Jamaican exporters to overcome potential barriers to international trade, and the need to do testing in other markets.