Free Pre-Assessment Still Available To Inspection Bodies

The Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) is reminding inspection bodies that its offer of free pre-assessment is still available for take-up.

Chief Executive Officer of JANAAC, Sharonmae Shirley, said the offer has been extended to the end of the fiscal year, March 2019.

She is urging the entities that inspect goods and services to take advantage of the opportunity for pre-assessment, which is a gap audit, to identify weaknesses in the entity and help prepare for the accreditation process.

Mrs. Shirley, who was addressing a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on Wednesday (September 5), said JANAAC has been encouraging inspection bodies to apply for accreditation, which is critical for developing countries in ensuring compliance with international standards.

She said JANAAC has provided preliminary training with a number of public and private inspection bodies, to build capacity to self-audit and close gaps in preparation for accreditation.

JANAAC has, so far, accredited one regional inspection body, and is currently processing the application of one local inspection body.

“Without an entity [like JANAAC] that will provide impartial attestation that our conformity assessment bodies (CABs) are operating to the international standards that govern the trade industry globally, then the goods and services that CABs provide attestation for would not be accepted,” Mrs. Shirley said.

Conformity assessment bodies include inspection and certification bodies, medical laboratories and testing laboratories, among others.

Certification by JANAAC will improve testing and quality of products being produced for the local and international markets, in keeping with the standards outlined in the National Quality Policy 2017.

An agency of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, JANAAC is the only internationally recognised accreditation body in the English-speaking Caribbean.