ILAC News 38

assessment, by JANAAC’s assessors, of itsoperating procedures and testing methodsto ensure they conformed to the standardsoutlined by the International Organizationfor Standards (ISO) and the Guidelines ofthe International Laboratory AccreditationCooperation (ILAC).With the accreditation of the SRC’sAnalytical Services Department by JANAAC,Jamaica now has two local laboratories thatare accredited to international standards.The other accredited laboratory is the MassLaboratory at the Bureau of Standards,which was accredited by an overseas basedaccreditation body, before the establishmentof JANAAC.CEO of JANAAC, Marguerite Domville said“although the SRC’s chemistry laboratorywas the only laboratory to be accredited thusfar, she was heartened by the response ofthe other laboratories to the call for them tobecome accredited. To date 27 laboratorieshave picked up applications.JANAAC CEO Breakfast: Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Karl Samuda,(right) and from left: Giselle Guevara, Manager of the Caribbean Laboratory Accreditation Schemeproject, Reginald Budhan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry Investment andCommerce, Marguerite Domville, Omar Azan, President of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association(JMA) and Simon Roberts, Chairman of the JANAAC Accreditation Council.Meanwhile guest speaker at the breakfast,President of the Jamaica Manufacturers’Association (JMA), Omar Azan, called for anurturing of the goods producing sectors ofthe Jamaican economy in order to build theircapacity to comply with international qualitystandards. He pointed out that the detentionof Jamaican products at the ports of entryfor retesting by importing countries, can bevery costly to exporters.“One major problem that exists in theCaribbean is the lack of traceability fromthe inputs to the finished product. We needmeasures to be put in place to verify thesource of inputs, so that we can vouch forthe integrity of our products” Mr Azan said.The day’s activities also included a livebroadcast of the CEO Breakfast on Jamaicanradio, a Poster Exhibition and a TechnicalConference entitled “Testing for Accuracyand Global Competitiveness.”A very pleased Carol Thompson, Team Leader in the Scientific Research Council’s (SRC) AnalyticalServices Department (left) is all smiles as she uses a chart to explain how the SRC prepared itselffor the accreditation process to: from left - AnnMarie Smith of the SRC, Simon Roberts, Chairman ofthe JANAAC Accreditation Council and Sonia Morgan, JANAAC Senior Lead Assessor.The Technical Conference which took placein the afternoon was a joint activity done incollaboration with the Caribbean LaboratoryAccreditation Service (CLAS) Project ofthe CARICOM Regional Organization forStandards and Quality (CROSQ).JANAAC, an agency of the Industry,Investment and Commerce Ministry, wasincorporated in March 2007 to provideaccreditation services to ConformityAssessment Bodies (CABs) such aslaboratories, certification and inspectionbodies.Ms Marguerite DomvilleChief Executive OfficerMarguerite Domville, CEO of JANAAC left, has the attention of: from left - former JLP spokeswomanon Commerce Shirley Williams, Noel Osbourne Executive Director of the Bureau of Standards andClaudette Brown Technical Manager, JANAAC. Mrs Williams, who is CEO of the Polydiagnostic CentreLtd, was among numerous CEOs and senior executives from laboratories across the island whoattended a CEO Breakfast hosted by JANAAC.ILAC News | Accreditation27