Throwback Jerseys the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality

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With the aim of helping Caricom member states meet the requirements of globalisation through accreditation, the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) yesterday launched the Caribbean Laboratory Accreditation Services (CLAS) Project at Le Meridien Pegasus in Georgetown.The event saw the attendance of senior officials of the Ministries of Health, Trade and Agriculture, as well as from medical laboratories, food-safety organisations, water authorities, chambers of commerce, manufacturers’ associations, academia, regional accreditation focal points and relevant stakeholders drawn from Caricom countries.According to Project Coordinator Giselle Guevara, the project became inevitable after it was recognised thatProject Coordinator, Gisella Guevara with globalisation the region would undoubtedly be faced with serious competition and thus be challenged to compete in the international arena.For this reason, Guevara said that through the CLAS project efforts will be made to ensure that the products and services offered by the region are reliable, trustworthy and accurate,  therefore allowing them to remain competitive.In essence she noted that the region is obligated to move the way of the rest of the world in order to survive.She pointed out that internationally there are about 29,000 laboratories recorded as at the year 2007, adding that statistics by now would be higher.“If we have to ask ourselves what percentage the Caribbean has of the 29,000, it is very small, even less than two per cent. So we have to make our mark in terms of what is happening internationally in accreditation.”And, according to Guevara, there are several benefits for accreditation, even as she noted that “what we need to think about is not the cost… it is not so much that we are spending money,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, but we are investing for the general public’s confident that when you buy a product or a service it is reliable and do what it says, and that you don’t have product failures and recalls”.She, however, noted that, while the Caribbean has not been tainted, there have been incidents where people have gotten sick or even died from product failures.As such she noted that efforts must be geared at minimising dangerous outbreaks, monitoring and testing of diseases and clinical studies since, according to her, without systems in place laboratories will not be sure that they are giving the correct results.She pointed out that with the CLAS system in place governments and regulators can have some flexibility of approach.The gathering at the launch of the CLAS project“Of course governments need this because they have so many providers and so many different publics to service… They need increased confidence in the data that they use because they need to be able to say: I can stand behind this product.”As a result, she noted, it is expected that the CLAS project will be able to bring to fruition a competitive environment for individual countries and efficient governments, features which must go hand in hand in order to facilitate trade which will be very important to the region.“The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is very important to the region and, with the implementation of this agreement, we will have to think about trade facilitation, we have to think about the products that not only come into the region, but the products we would like to send out.“Accreditation is one of the tools we will be able to use to help us get into those European markets. European markets right now rely very heavily on standards,NFL Jerseys China Online, metrology, certification and accreditation. We cannot expect to continue competing if we cannot offer them the same things they can offer us… If we cannot, then we are basically squeezing ourselves out of a very viable market.“With the efforts of CROSQ, the quality infrastructure will encompass testing,Marlon Humphrey Jersey, metrology, standards, accreditation and certification, which will form a synergistic relationship geared towards a viable trade experience for the region.”Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy in his remarks to the gathering pointed out that standardisation is very critical, even as he highlighted instances when discrepancies were detected in local laboratories.“These are the consequences if we don’t insist on having standards, if we don’t insist on our laboratories, whether they are clinical or otherwise, attaining and performing at certain levels and standards. I believe that every operator, whether it is a public operator or a private operator, genuinely wants to operate a service that is of the highest standard, and to provide a service that is acceptable… that provides results that reflect the truth.”According to the Minister, as a people of the Caribbean “we must all adapt and embrace accreditation as one way of guaranteeing quality”.He noted, though, that without the establishment of laws and the regulatory frameworks the need for accreditation may never optimally happen all the time.Minister Ramsammy pointed out that, with the establishment of CROSQ and the implementation of the CLAS project, every citizen of Caricom could have access to quality laboratory services.CROSQ, according to its Chief Executive Officer Dr Vyjayanthi Lopez,Fernando Rodney Jersey, is the successor of the Caribbean Common Market Council which was created by 14 member states of Caricom through an inter-governmental agreement. This agreement was signed in Belize in 2002, and the first meeting of the CROSQ Council took place in St Vincent and the Grenadines in April 2002.Subsequently, a headquarters agreement was signed in January of 2007,Brad Richards Red Wings Jersey, resulting in the CROSQ Secretariat being based in Barbados.The standard entity, she said,Kyle Korver Hawks Jersey, is governed by the Directors of the Standards Bureau of the 14 member states who make up the Council. Haiti is likely to soon join the venture. Currently the members of the council are mandated to report directly to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED). Dr Lopez pointed out that CROSQ’s mission is to harmonise and implement standards, facilitate international competitiveness and increase regional and international trade, all aimed at sustainable production and marketing of goods and services in the Caricom single market and economy, and enhancing the social and economic development of the region.“Our objective is to promote the development of standards and the recognition of technical regulations… The standards we develop we follow international guidelines so that they are acceptable, and we want to encourage the recognition of internationally accredited certification systems, and part of what we are doing here under the CLAS project are efforts to that.”Additionally she disclosed that CROSQ is required to facilitate achievements of international competitiveness of regional goods and services by fostering a culture of quality in regional industries.At the same time Dr Lopez disclosed that CROSQ is working towards increasing awareness to standard-related matters, including technical regulations, conformity with assessment procedures and metrology, all of which are related to accreditation.