Senate Passes NCRA Bill

The Senate has approved legislation to establish the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) as a statutory body to carry out the regulatory functions previously discharged by the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ).

In 2018, Cabinet gave approval for the separation of the regulatory functions of the BSJ and for those duties to be undertaken by the NCRA.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, who piloted the NCRA Act 2023 in the Upper House, noted that the move was in compliance with the World Trade Organization-Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT) agreement.

The arrangement aims to ensure that the technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.

“The combination of the BSJ’s responsibility for setting and regulating standards hinders the effective implementation of the agreement, as there was an inherent conflict of interest in the BSJ’s organisational structure,” Senator Hill pointed out.

The Minister further explained that the conflict stemmed from the fact that the BSJ performed conformity assessments and set standards and was also required to regulate the standards that it sets.

Senators Lambert Brown and Kavan Gayle also contributed to the debate.

The legislation also aims to regulate and enforce the processes and practices connected with the manufacture, production and treatment of commodities for which a compulsory standards specification or technical regulation has been declared, and is intended for products for exports, sale in the domestic market, purposes incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes.

It also seeks to regulate weighing and measuring devices for trade and for purposes incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes.