CARIMET – PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF METROLOGY ACROSS THE CARICOM REGION

Jul 02, 2023 Features / Columnists, GNBS, News

GNBS IN FOCUS

Kaieteur News – National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) offer metrology services in the form of verification or calibration to ensure there is accurate and comparable measurements within and among member states. Precise measurement plays a key role in the advancement of health, law enforcement, oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture and trade among other areas in the region.

To effectively plan, implement, monitor and improve the measurement infrastructure in the region, there is the Caribbean Metrology Cooperation (CARIMET) Committee under the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ). This Committee is made up of representatives from the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) of the fifteen Member States of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic. These NMIs include the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and the Dominican Institute for Quality (INDOCAL).

The CARIMET Committee provides technical assistance to Metrology Institutions across the Region which are looking to improve or increase the services offered to stakeholders. It has the crucial role of fostering collaboration and information sharing in keeping with the development of Metrology as a pillar of the National Quality Infrastructure.Through CROSQ, the committee provides guidance, financial assistance, technical assistance and administrative support to member states. It is also tasked with harmonization of regional metrology laws and regulations, and the establishment and maintenance of measurement traceability within the region.

CARIMET members met in Guyana on June 28-29, 2023, for the third face-to-face meeting of the committee. The meeting and a workshop were conducted at the GNBS where the team of sixteen (16) participants conducted a review of the five-year (2021- 2025) strategic plan of the committee, discussed ongoing projects, facilitated team building engagements for new representatives, and reviewed the committee’s 2023 operational plan.

Under its current strategic plan, CARIMET aims to strengthen the ability of NMIs in member states to provide sustainable metrology services. A key focal point in the short term is to maximise the benefits of the International Committee of Weights and Measures – Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM-MRA). The CIPM-MRA is the framework through which National Metrology Institutes worldwide demonstrate the international equivalence of their measurement standards and their calibration capabilities.

CARIMET, while being aware of the need to strengthen its network capacity and the monitoring of planned activities, has in the past five years made significant advancements in several technical areas. This included the development of three Caribbean Reference Laboratories (CaRLs), conducting its first Volume Inter-Laboratory Comparison and supporting several NMIs towards international recognition. Plans are onstream to develop three new Calibration Reference Laboratories (CaRLs) to ensure the traceability of critical measurements at all developing NMIs.

Over the years, the GNBS has made significant strides in Metrology and is working to be one of the best in the Caribbean. Among the major achievements of the local NMI is the accreditation of the Industrial Metrology Laboratory to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The Laboratory was accredited for the calibration of mass, force and weighing devices, and non-automatic weighing instruments.

In addition, the Legal Metrology Department of the GNBS won the 2022 CEEMS (Countries and Economies with Emerging Metrology Systems) Award from the International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML). The award recognises organisations or individuals for outstanding contributions to International Legal Metrology.

In 2023, the Bureau introduced the verification of net content of pre-packaged goods and will soon add the verification of Sound Level Meters, Tint Meters and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Meters to its long list of verification services provided to stakeholders in the various industries.

Stakeholders in the aviation, manufacturing, law enforcement, oil and gas, agro-processing and other industries are encouraged to utilize the verification and calibration services of the GNBS to ensure quality control, continuous improvement and consumer protection in their daily activities.

For further information, please contact the GNBS on Tel: 219- 0064-66 or WhatsApp 692-4627 or visit our website: www.gnbsgy.org or like us on Facebook: gnbsgy