More Entities Encouraged to Utilise JANAAC’s Services

More public and private entities are being encouraged to utilise the expertise of the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) to ensure that the quality of their products and services meet international standards.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, made the call during the JANAAC ‘CEO Breakfast’ at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Friday (June 9).

The event was held to commemorate World Accreditation Day (WAD) 2023, under the theme ‘Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade’.

“I urge public and private [entities in] production, laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies to confirm the quality, integrity and conformance of your services to international standards by working with JANAAC,” the Minister said.

Senator Hill said the Government has established several entities, including JANAAC, to strengthen Jamaica’s accreditation and testing regime.

Others include the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA), and Scientific Research Council (SRC).

“All [of these] are there to make sure we have an accreditation and testing infrastructure that really makes us stand out in CARICOM and across the Caribbean,” the Minister added.

Senator Hill maintained that accreditation and compliance with high quality standards will better position Jamaican exports to gain and sustain competitive advantages in global markets.

“As an excellent example of Jamaica’s export of services at work, JANAAC’s provision of best-in-class accreditation services contributes to a positive outlook for the future of the global trade within our region and more exports from Jamaica,” he said.

Consequently, the Minister emphasised the need for more focus to be placed on exports to narrow the country’s trade gap.

During the ceremony, three private and public-sector entities received certificates of accreditation from JANAAC.

These are the National Water Commission (NWC), for its Instrumentation and Meters Testing Laboratory; the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company Limited, for its High Voltage and Testing Services Laboratory; and the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) for Food Inspection, Monitoring and Sampling, and Inspection, Monitoring and Sampling of Imported Pre-Packaged Goods, among other services.

Senator Hill congratulated the organisations for the milestone achievement, noting that “JANAAC’s accreditation of these entities offers third-party validation and international recognition of their technical competence to perform the activities within their accreditation scopes”.

“For JANAAC’s rigorous and transparent accreditation processes, consumers can have increased confidence in the results produced from the calibration and inspection activities conducted by the NWC, JPS and NCRA during their service to the nation,” he said.

JANAAC is the only globally recognised accreditation body in the English-speaking Caribbean and the first regional stakeholder entity to become a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

It continues to deliver technical training and best-in-class accreditation services to conformity assessment bodies (CABs), such as laboratories and inspection and certification bodies, in 10 CARICOM states.

JANAAC has received authorisation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to serve as an accreditation body under its Accredited Third-Party Certification Programme.

Accredited Third-Party Certification is a voluntary programme under which the FDA recognises accreditation bodies that will have responsibility for validating third-party certification entities.

These bodies will be authorised to conduct food-safety audits and certify foreign food facilities, such as farms and factories.