GSB to establish pilot laboratories

Elmina, Nov. 30, GNA - The Ghana Standards Board (GSB), is seeking assistance from donor organisations including JICA and UNIDO, to set up 'pilot laboratories' in some parts of the country, to speed up the processes for certification of local goods.
It is also exploring the possibility of accrediting and soliciting the use of laboratories in the universities and polytechnics and organisations with such facilities outside Accra, for analysing and testing product samples. The Acting Executive Director of the Board, Mr Nimo Ahenkora, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at a workshop on the GSB's mark of conformity, which ended at Elmina on Saturday.
The three-day workshop was organised by the GSB and the Ministry of Trade and Industry and President's Special Initiatives was geared towards raising awareness on the importance of the mark.
It was under the theme, "Consumer Assurance - the Ghana Standard Board's Mark of Conformity," and brought together traders, both large and small-scale industrialists, traders, exporters, as well as officials from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
The Acting Executive Director, said under the arrangement, GSB would help train personnel of the institutions together with the Boards staff to extend its services to the regions and districts.
He was optimistic that the goal, would be achieved within the next three to four years, to ensure that locally produced goods are brought up to the required standards to meet the needs of both the local and international market.
Mr Ahenkora, was not happy about the current practice whereby various establishments like the Food and Drugs Board, had their own set of standards and stressed that "all set standards should be brought under the umbrella of the GSB, to harmonise them to meet international standards".
The workshop, which was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, dwelt on issues such as "GSB mark of conformity -problems and the way forward" and "the relevance of standards and their importance in trade and industry".

Elmina, Nov. 30, GNA - The Ghana Standards Board (GSB), is seeking assistance from donor organisations including JICA and UNIDO, to set up 'pilot laboratories' in some parts of the country, to speed up the processes for certification of local goods.
It is also exploring the possibility of accrediting and soliciting the use of laboratories in the universities and polytechnics and organisations with such facilities outside Accra, for analysing and testing product samples. The Acting Executive Director of the Board, Mr Nimo Ahenkora, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at a workshop on the GSB's mark of conformity, which ended at Elmina on Saturday.
The three-day workshop was organised by the GSB and the Ministry of Trade and Industry and President's Special Initiatives was geared towards raising awareness on the importance of the mark.
It was under the theme, "Consumer Assurance - the Ghana Standard Board's Mark of Conformity," and brought together traders, both large and small-scale industrialists, traders, exporters, as well as officials from the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
The Acting Executive Director, said under the arrangement, GSB would help train personnel of the institutions together with the Boards staff to extend its services to the regions and districts.
He was optimistic that the goal, would be achieved within the next three to four years, to ensure that locally produced goods are brought up to the required standards to meet the needs of both the local and international market.
Mr Ahenkora, was not happy about the current practice whereby various establishments like the Food and Drugs Board, had their own set of standards and stressed that "all set standards should be brought under the umbrella of the GSB, to harmonise them to meet international standards".
The workshop, which was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, dwelt on issues such as "GSB mark of conformity -problems and the way forward" and "the relevance of standards and their importance in trade and industry".