JANAAC Helping to Facilitate Trade

The Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) is being hailed for facilitating trade between Jamaica and its international partners through the provision of laboratory accreditation services.

Director of Science and Technology at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Dr. Dwight Ramdon, said the JANAAC seal “is like a passport” for local goods to enter the export market.

“To have the JANAAC stamp of approval on your product means that the tests are done by a credible lab and this makes the product accepted anywhere in the world,” he pointed out in an interview with JIS News.

“If we are serious about growth in exports, economic growth, foreign exchange earnings and import substitution, then the products being exported need to have that JANAAC stamp of approval, which says that they are internationally accepted,” he added.

Chief Post Entry Officer, Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Peta-Gaye Chang, also commended JANAAC for working to ensure that laboratories, certification bodies and other inspection authorities are certified to conform to international standards.

She said that at the core of the accreditation process is a commitment to ongoing self-evaluation and improvement, and providing an effective system of accountability.

Established in 2008, JANAAC has been carrying out its mandate of providing conformity assessment bodies (CABs) with internationally recognised accreditation services.

These include inspection bodies such as the Bureau of Standards Inspectorate Division and the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division Inspectorate; certification bodies such as the

National Certification Body of Jamaica and the Coffee Industry Board; and public- and private-sector laboratories, including testing, calibration and medical facilities.

JANAAC also provides technical training to personnel involved in the accreditation of CABs, such as assessors, laboratory personnel, inspectors, and internal auditors, and facilitates the sharing of information with stakeholders.

The agency is one of only two accreditation bodies in the Caribbean that provide services that are internationally recognised. The other entity is based in Trinidad and Tobago.

JANAAC observed World Accreditation Day on June 9.