BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (SKNIS) — The St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards recently held a workshop on good standardisation practices in an effort to have the Federation integrated into the regional standardisation framework and specifically to have the bureau build the capacity to participate in the development and adoption of national and regional standards.

This workshop was held at an opportune time, said Honourable Lindsay Grant, Minister of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as the bureau joined with the International Standards Community to celebrate World Standards Day held under the theme “Standards –the world’s common language ” on October 14, 2015.

The minister explained that the goal of World Standards Day is to “raise awareness of the importance of global standardisation to the world economy and to promote its role in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government, and consumers worldwide.”

He added that World Standards Day also commemorates the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardisation activities.

The St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards, located at La Guerite, Basseterre, participate in such activities to keep the Federation safe such as analysing the chemical and microbiological in bottled water, restaurants, gasoline and the calibration of scales in supermarkets and the airport.

“These are just a small list of priorities in which the Bureau of Standards is vigilant,” said the minister.

The minister noted that it is a priority for the bureau to “get new and existing stakeholders engaged in their activities, from every interest group, industry, government, companies, consumers, academia and legal professionals, in addition to standard developers such as CROSQ and conformity assessment bodies, both domestic and international.”

He added that each group serves as a critical component of “a strong and effective consensus based standardisation system where all interests are represented.”

“In this respect, the Bureau of Standards tries to reach out to as broad a group as possible; and one of the ways this is done is through regular interactions such as workshops with the stakeholders and the community as a whole,” stated Minister Grant.