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How National Standards Are Developed
A request for the development of a standard has to be submitted to the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) by filling out a proposal form. This proposal form is submitted to the National Standards Council for approval. Upon approval, it is assigned to one of the Technical Committees so that work can be started. If there is no Technical Committee established to deal with this new standard proposal, one is established.
The Technical Secretary assigned to the Committee will prepare drafts for committee members to review and deliberate on. When this draft has been approved by the committee, it is issued for Public Comments for a period of three months. The public is informed by notices published in the newspapers, and copies of the standard are circulated to stakeholders.
If comments are received, the committee meets again to review and incorporate these comments, resulting in the preparation of a Final Draft Standard.
The Final Draft Standard is submitted to the National Standards Council for approval. Once approved, the standard is edited, assigned a GYS number, published and made available for sale.
If compliance with the standard is deemed necessary for the health and safety of consumers, the National Standards Council may recommend to the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce that the standard be made mandatory/compulsory. Once approved by Cabinet, it is sent to the Attorney General’s office for vetting and is published in the Official Gazette.
A National standard is reviewed and updated every five years in an effort to reflect the latest developments in safety and technology, as well as current realities in the marketplace and consumer demands. Amendments to, and revisions of standards require the same procedure as is applied to the preparation of the original standard.
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