The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is gearing up to commence its annual surveillance inspections for weights and measures.
The exercise is a key aspect of the agency’s mandate to ensure consumers get value for money.
GNBS Head of Corporate Communications, Lloyd David
For the period January to March 2024, the (GNBS) stamped and verified a sum of 14, 924 scales and masses used by suppliers in various industries.
Instruments included electricity meters supplied by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL); scales; masses and measures used in markets, shops, retail stores, rice mills, and by airlines and manufacturing companies, across the country.
In an interview with Guyana Times, GNBS Head of Corporate Communications, Lloyd David disclosed that the agency’s surveillance inspections for weights and measures are slated to commence in April.
This exercise aims to remove all illegal and faulty instruments being used by suppliers, especially those that were not verified and stamped by the Bureau earlier in the year.
According to David, the activity has the support of the Guyana Police Force, and as a result, he is urging suppliers to adhere to the right practice.
“This doesn’t say that as a vendor or shopkeeper you wait until then to get on the other side of the law. You should take every effort to – if you’re using a scale, it must be verified for the period and that is the law, so stay on the right side of the law I would encourage any person using a measure instrument,” David disclosed.
He explained that the businesses within the commercial sector usually have the most unverified devices, noting that this was an issue the Bureau was working assiduously to rectify.
“When it comes to the number of persons who did not do so well in ensuring that their devices are verified is the commercial sector, where we have the markets, shops and so forth. Most of our manufacturing are finding it very essential to have their instruments verified, so there is not much of a problem there,” David added.
In 2023, the GNBS verified over 33,000 instruments.
The Bureau, operating under the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, is a semi-autonomous governmental organisation responsible for standards and quality in Guyana.
It is an ISO 9001:2015 certified and ISO/IEC 17025 accredited agency. (G1)
