2006-02-07

THE GNBS CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME.

WHAT IS CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT?

Conformity assessment defined in ISO/IEC Guide 2:1996 as: any activity concerned with determining directly or indirectly that relevant requirements are fulfilled, provides the means of ensuring that the product, service or systems produced or operated have met the required characteristics and that these characteristics are consistent from product to product, service to service or system to system. Conformity assessment activities include calibration; sampling and testing; inspection; certification; and management system assessment and registration. It also includes accreditation of the competence of these activities by third party and recognition of an accreditation programme’s capability.

BENEFITS OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT.

Conformity assessment is an important marketplace communication device - a means of exchanging information between buyer and seller. It is vital for buyers, sellers and other interested parties to understand the conformity assessment process, to competently judge the value of a particular assessment scheme and to use the information resulting from that scheme to make intelligent marketplace choices.

Conformity assessment can verify that a particular product meets a given level of quality or safety and provides user with explicit or implicit information about its characteristics, the consistency of these characteristics and /or performance of the product. It can also increase a buyer’s confidence in a product, furnish useful information to a buyer, and substantiate a company’s advertising and labelling claims regarding a product.

THE GNBS CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME.

The objective of the GNBS Conformity Assessment programme is to facilitate the development of an internationally recognised national system for conformity assessment that will facilitate easier access to foreign markets for locally produced products and protecting consumers from substandard products on the local market.

To achieve this goal, the GNBS will collaborate with all organizations involved in conformity assessment activities, to facilitate the implementation of the following international standards in their operations.

(a)            ISO 17020 standard: General criteria for the operation of bodies performing inspection,

(b)            ISO 17025 standard: General criteria for the operation of testing laboratories and

(c)            ISO Guide 65 standard: General criteria for certification bodies operating product certification. 

DETAILS OF THE PROGRAMME.

The Conformity Assessment programme of GNBS is involved in the following activities.

(a)          Facilitating the development of an internationally recognised national conformity assessment system through the activities of the National Committee on Conformity Assessment (NCCA).

(b)         Conducting training on the relevant international standards for staff from conformity assessment agencies.

(c)          Providing assistance to the staff from these agencies on developing their documentation.

(d)         Providing assistance to the staff from these agencies on implementation activities.

(e)          Facilitating contact with accreditation bodies if needed.

These activities are done on request from the relevant agency or as a request from the National Committee on Conformity Assessment.

For Further information, call the Guyana National Bureau of Standards on telephone numbers: 225-6226, 225-9013 or 227-7890.