20 small businesses to get help to be GNBS compliant

…as GCCI inks agreement with GNBS

As the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) continues in its quest to upgrade small businesses, some 20 establishments will benefit from upgrades which will allow for them to be more competitive.
This is according to GCCI President Deodat Indar, who on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) to enable those businesses to become standardised and compliant.
It was explained that the first batch of 20 small, medium and micro businesses will go through an inspection phase and selected thereafter.
Indar explained, “The outcome of the project is to develop those 20 companies in the areas of standardisation, certification, as well as to enable them to have proper GMPs, or good manufacturing practices, and also assisting them with proper

packaging and labelling of their goods.”
He added that this MoU was one aspect of the GCCI’s move to have small businesses compliant, as within the next few weeks, another agreement will be inked this time around with the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department to ensure their products are safe.
These new initiatives for small businesses are being made possible through the partnership of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
GNBS Executive Director Candelle Walcott noted that the Bureau was happy to have collaborated with the Private Sector agency and its membership to sign the agreement, which was symbolic of a new relationship.
According to her, “We will be providing technical assistance and guidance to 20 agro-processors across Guyana to implement good manufacturing practices as well as other requirements so that these companies can become certified and also become export ready.”
She added that with these new standards, the businesses would be able to improve their competitiveness and business operations, enabling them to provide better and safe products for consumption.