Member States of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are to benefit this year from a project to establish and enhance their standards management capacity.

Three OECS States, the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, are to be brought in line with the regional mandate for standardisation while the other member states will receive assistance in developing their capacity in standards management to adequately pursue initiatives in export development and diversification.

The project which will be executed by the Technical Action Services Unit (TASU) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, was made possible through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) providing a grant of approximately US$600,000.

Under the project, the productive and service sectors in Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis will be targeted in initiatives aimed at raising the national capability level in the management of the standardisation process. Among these are the establishment of policy, administrative, regulatory, and technical frameworks, which will allow for the development and/or adoption of standards, whether mandatory or voluntary, and the dissemination of these standards.

Other objectives of the project, in the two OECS member States, are the establishment of basic facilities for conformity assessment (testing and certification of products), to determine whether the products meet approved standards, and the development of enforcement capability for ensuring that mandatory standards are complied with.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the focus will be on creating an enabling environment for the promotion of public and industrial welfare, health and safety. Initiatives will also be directed at developing a capability in research and development for agro-processors with particular regard to compliance with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) quality standards. Other areas to be addressed include the enactment and implementation of standards legislation and practices, and the promotion of the use and enforcement of standards in relation to goods, services, processes and practices.

Preparatory work for the project has started in Grenada, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, and Antigua and Barbuda.