For the year 2024, the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) prevented $250 million worth of goods from being placed on the shelves in the marketplace, which were found to be in breach of established standards. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NCRA, Dr. Lorice Edwards Brown, told JIS News that the NCRA conducted more than 6,000 inspections of products...

The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) will host its 20th annual National Quality Awards (NQA) Ceremony and Banquet on Thursday, January 30, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel. Since its inception in 2004, the NQA Programme has stood as Jamaica’s premier quality system-based awards initiative, celebrating exceptional achievements in quality management systems across the manufacturing, service, agricultural and small business sectors....

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...

The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) is advising of the return of its Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Business Roadshow. The event is set to take place on Thursday, January 16, at the Twickenham Park Church of the Open Bible in St. Catherine, starting at 9:00 a.m. Under the theme ‘Start. Innovate. Export. Grow’, the Roadshow is...

Effective April 1, 2025, the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) will revise the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) framework to make provisions for the elimination of annual renewals of SEZ Operating Certificates for Developers and Occupants. Under the revised framework, Operating Certificates for Developers will now extend for the duration of the licence agreement, while Occupants’ certificates will match the...

The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) is urging citizens not to turn on lights if they suspect a gas leak in their homes. “[If] you enter… your house and you smell gas, never ever turn on a light. Once you flick a light switch, a spark goes [off] in the switch, and that can mean the end,” said JFB Superintendent, Emeleo...

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) is urging banks to step up their efforts to ensure reliable automated teller machine (ATM) services during the busy Christmas holiday season. Speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s head office in Kingston, the CAC’s Director of Communications, Latoya Halstead, said based on a report from the Bank of...