NCRA Week To Be Held From January 12-17

The National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) will be hosting a week of activities from January 12 to 17, to commemorate its first anniversary as a statutory body.

The NCRA is responsible for registering pre-packaged food establishments, registering importers and local manufacturers of goods for which compulsory standards exist, inspecting goods at the ports of entry and in the domestic market, as well as, undertaking responsibility for the verification of weighing and measuring devices used in trade.

Chief Executive Officer of the NCRA, Dr. Lorice Edwards Brown told JIS News that January 15, 2025, will mark one year since its existence as a legal authority in Jamaica.

“We are at our one-year mark, and we want to signal to the public that the NCRA, a new agency in the government of Jamaica, is here to assist them with providing safe and healthy products,” she said.

“We also assist businesses in ensuring they use fairness in trade, in their transactions, in their weighing and measuring devices and also we may be known mainly for our food processing activities, the monitoring, inspection and enforcement activities that we execute,” she added.

The NCRA has planned a week of events to engage and celebrate with its stakeholders.

The week of activities commenced with a church service at the Stella Maris Church in Kingston, on Sunday (January 12), followed by a brunch at the NCRA’s Hope Road offices in Kingston.

The NCRA will also participate in several interviews with the local media on Monday (January 13) to highlight the work of the Authority.

“This is specifically for the benefit of the public so they can learn more about us and also learn how to get in touch with us and facilitate a more direct conversation,” she said.

The NCRA will also host an open house at its Montego Bay, Savanna la Mar, and Mandeville offices from Tuesday (January 14) to Wednesday (January 15). These events are intended to provide information on the services of the NCRA.

In addition, the NCRA will be participating in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) Business Road Show, at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine on Thursday (January 16).

The week of activities will culminate with team building and training exercises on Friday (January 17).

In December 2015, the NCRA was established and empowered to operate on behalf of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica to conduct regulatory activities by an instrument of Authority, until the legislation to establish the NCRA as a legal entity was complete.

The NCRA was formerly the Regulatory Division of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica.

The Authority attained legal status as a statutory body in June 2023 with the promulgation of the NCRA Act 2023 and the implementation of the status of the NCRA as a body corporate became effective January 15, 2024, with the appointment of a board of directors by the Minister of Industry Investment and Commerce.