GHANA – The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has partnered with the British Standards Institute (BSI) in order to ease the adoption of international standards and participation in the development of global standards.

BSI is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. It produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to businesses.

Mr. Graham Holloway, a BSI Consultant met with senior officials as part of a series of engagements to go through the specifics of an upcoming “Standards Partnership Pilot Programme” anticipated to run for 8 months.

The programme, among other things, is expected to improve the technical capacity of the GSA, promote awareness and use of international standards across the continent and enhance trade facilitation to reduce time and costs.

Mr. Holloway, during the meeting, noted that he would like to get down with each Head of Department to learn about their needs in order to create a program to help address those issues.

“I am interested in finding out what challenges confront your departments. Feel free to share your problems so we can find solutions to enable us to build a robust standards institution.

“My job here is to understand the standards gaps that exist and I will provide the technical assistance which may include training,” he said.

Mr. Clifford Frimpong, the Deputy Director-General, Conformity Assessment, urged his staff to be open and tell the consultant the challenges and assistance they need to make the partnership worthwhile.

“This project is seen to be in alignment with Ghana’s aspirations of becoming a manufacturing hub in Africa and supports the implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement.

“Please, open up and share the challenges confronting your departments so that together we can find solutions and build a world-class standards institution,” he said.

GSA plays a key role in the quality infrastructure of the country which is hinged on Standardization, Metrology and Conformity Assessment.

These three key pillars ensure that the products produced and imported into the country meet the right requirements.

Standards Partnership programme is an initiative started by Vicky Ford, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Minister in Ghana and Rwanda.

The programme, unveiled during the Africa Debate 2022 in July, will strengthen supply chains, reduce barriers to trade by helping both countries meet global standards and regulations.

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