Ministry of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development, Barbados.

Departments & Agencies


	Departments & Agencies	Friday, May 16, 2008
	BARBADOS NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTION Print this section

BARBADOS NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTION

The Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) was established in 1973 as a joint venture between the Government of Barbados and the private sector under the Companies Act. It is located at "Flodden", Culloden Road, St. Michael and consists of administrative offices and a laboratory complex housing metrology, textile, engineering and chemistry/microbiology laboratories.

Functions

The functions of the BNSI are:

to prepare and implement national standards (specifications, codes of practice, glossaries of terms, methods of analysis) relating to structures, commodities, materials, practices, matters and things;
to adopt and implement regional and international standards of interest to Barbados;
to revise and amend these standards from time to time;
to assist in the establishment of new industries to Barbados;
to maintain laboratories for testing and conducting investigations or research as may be necessary;
to provide calibrating facilities and be the custodian of the national standards of mass, length, capacity, temperature and electrical measurements;
to encourage education and training in standardization and its related activities, and to collect and disseminate information on such activities;
to promote quality assurance and simplification in industry and commerce;
to certify products, commodities and processes which conform to the national standards;
to promote the use of standardization activities as an economic tool;
generally dealing with any standards-related matters.

Act and Regulations

The activities of the BNSI are given legal weighting by the following Acts and the attendant regulations:

The Control of Standards Act, Cap 326A;
The Weights and Measures Act, Cap 331;
The BNSI Certification Marks Act, Cap 325A.

There are currently 44 standards which have been made mandatory under the Control of Standards Act.

Services

The BNSI offers the following services to industry:

standards development and information;
quality management and environmental management;
certification of products under the BNSI Certification Marking Scheme;
testing of products;
metrological (weights and measures) services;
product development;
soils and materials testing;
technical advice for metrication.

Structure

The Institution is headed by a Director with supporting staff. There are four departments: Administration; Specifications Development, Quality Control and Certification; Laboratory Services and the Library.

Publications

The BNSI publishes national standards on labeling, building, food, chemicals, textiles, solar energy, liquefied petroleum gas, furniture, consumer products. The complete list of Barbadian Standards is published in the Standards Catalogue.