NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Bureau of Quality and Standards and Quality (BBSQ) has completed its new standards and methodology legislation, as well as accompanying regulations that will repeal legislation enacted back in 2006.
Renae Ferguson-Bufford, executive director of the BBSQ, while addressing a media engagement event yesterday, noted: “The BBSQ recently completed its new standard and metrology legislations and their complementary regulations.
“These newly updated bills will repeal the Standards Act and our Weights and Measure Act of 2006 and ensure compliance with our World Trade Organization and Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, including our obligations to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) The Bahamas would have signed onto in 2008.”
The Standards Bureau was established as part of the Bahamas’ commitments to membership in rules-based trading regimes such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and is designed to both protect consumers and facilitate trade.
The BBSQ was established under the Standards Act of 2006 as a corporate body operating within the Ministry of Labour, and is mandated to establish standards for all goods, services, practices and processes to protect the health and safety of Bahamians.
Ferguson-Bufford noted that national standards help to build customer confidence that products are safe and reliable, helps to reduce cost across all aspects of a business and helps to gain access to markets across the world.
“To date, the bureau has declared 34 national standards,” said Ferguson-Bufford.
She noted that in 2017, the BBSQ introduced the Used Vehicle Pre-shipment Verification of Conformity program for roadworthiness of used vehicles.
