GNBS revising act to implement strict penalties for usage of defaulting instruments

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is actively reviewing the 1981 Weights and Measures Act to ensure that the legislation is suitable for modern practices and issues.
One such issue is the usage of illegal, faulty, and unverified scales, masses and measures, which, the Bureau notes, contributes significantly to citizens not getting value for money.
Since the establishment of the Bureau’s Product Compliance and Legal Metrology Departments, attached inspectors have been seizing large quantities of non-complying products and unapproved dial scales from retailers.
Operations in 2022 and 2023 saw the seizure of more than 107 cartons (1071 packets) of cigarettes, 1200 boxes of ‘King’ safety matches, and 200 unapproved blue dial scales, among others.
Inspectors continued to encounter the widespread use of blue dial scales despite numerous warnings by the GNBS to vendors and shopkeepers to desist from using the domestic scale in commercial trade.

Currently, the Bureau only seizes illegal, faulty, and unverified instruments; however, the agency believes that stricter penalties are needed to encourage persons to desist from this practice.
GNBS’s Head of Corporate Communications, Lloyd David said this was what prompted action to update the 1981 Weights and Measures Act.
“Our legislation is kind of outdated since 1981’s quite some years ago, and the GNBS believe that we need a more modernised legislation to function properly in carrying out our various functions, because since then, lots of things have changed when it comes to weights and measures and monitoring.
“We have employed a legal officer and she is currently going through our regulation to ensure that everything is in order, so that when we proceed to that position to take defaulters to court, we’re in good stead,” the GNBS Head of Corporate Communications explained.
David added that the updated act would also play a key role in promoting sustainable socioeconomic development and consumer protection while enhancing trade and business competitiveness through standards.
“The checking of weights and measures is very important and I think the GNBS was given the responsibility based on the 1981 Weights and Measures Act. We were given the responsibility to ensure that accuracy occurs in trade, and this will certainly benefit the vendors who will be assured that they are selling the right amount to the customer. And likewise, the customer will be assured that the right quantities of measurement [are being given],” David said.
The GNBS, operating under the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, is a semi-autonomous governmental organisation responsible for standards and quality in Guyana.
The GNBS is an ISO 9001:2015 certified and ISO/IEC 17025 accredited agency.