World Accreditation Day 2016 and Recognition Ceremony for the Belize Bureau of Standards ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certification
June 9th, 2016, the Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) celebrated World Accreditation Day under the theme Accreditation: A global tool to support Public Policy. The event was hosted in the Cahal Pech Conference Room at the Radisson Fort George Hotel and Marina, in Belize City with participation of key stakeholders across public and private entities.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce Hon. Tracy Taegar Panton, in her delivery to the participants, acknowledged the importance of accreditation to trade, manufacturing, industry, security, and health citing its far reaching impact on national policy. The Minister spoke of the most recent wins in accreditation for the CARICOM Region highlighting various laboratories in Jamaica, Guyana and Grenada, not without mentioning that various laboratories in country are currently pursuing accreditation. These include the Citrus Research and Education Institute, the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, and the Belize Bureau of Standard which is only yet in the initial stages of this process.
The Minister of State, Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Amparo Masson, along with the Director and Staff of the BBS also took the opportunity to publicly announce that the Bureau has been certified to the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System. With this accomplishment the BBS is now proudly, the first government department to be certified to this international standard, joining only two other bureaux in the CARICOM Region, Jamaica and Suriname. This milestone puts the BBS on path to deliver on its mandate to build Belize’s National Quality Infrastructure.
