UNIDO Deputy Director General visits Ghana Standards Authority

The Deputy Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Mr Taizo Nishikawa has paid a working visit to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) in Accra.

UNIDO in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) is implementing a trade capacity building project funded by The Swiss Confederation through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to strengthen the capacity of conformity assessment institutions to comply with international quality standards for export products.

The GSA, a key beneficiary institution of UNIDO/MOTI Trade Capacity Building project, has during the period obtained accreditation for its System Certification Body, increased its capacity in Standard development, Product testing and upgraded its testing laboratories in areas of pesticide residue, mycotoxin, textile and microbiology.

The visit is to interact with management of the nation’s Standards body and tour its upgraded and accredited laboratories.

Mr Nishikawa said with the level of competition in the global market, the infrastructure provided would help the local industry penetrate the foreign markets with quality goods.

The Deputy Executive Director of GSA, Mrs Elizabeth H. Adetola, commended UNIDO and SECO for their role in ensuring the promotion of standards in the trade and export industry.

She said promotional strategies were in place to reach out to exporters and manufacturers on the need for standards, testing and certification to ensure food safety, create more acceptance of exported goods and increase public confidence in Ghanaian products.**