The Fourth Meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for the CROSQ/EDF Caribbean Laboratory Accreditation Service (CLAS) project was held yesterday at the CROSQ Secretariat in Barbados, with representatives from two National Accreditation Bodies (NABs) (the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation - JANAAC, and the Trinidad and Tobago Laboratory Accreditation Service - TTLABS) and the CARICOM Secretariat. The Director of Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards (also Chairman of CROSQ) represented the National Accreditation Focal Points (NAFPs). Also in attendance from CROSQ were the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the CLAS Project Coordinator and the IDB-MIF Project Manager.

The main aim of the meeting was to discuss the ongoing activities of the project, as well as plan for future activities between January and April 2010, and agree on future goals. The meeting generated a lot of discussion, one topic of which was the need to raise awareness about accreditation and its benefits. The importance for continuing work in this area was also identified as it crosses different aspects, among those various quality aspects and trade agreements, and the work currently ongoing is vital and must be continued.

The roles of NAFPs in the various countries is successful development of accreditation in the region was also emphasized. According to Giselle Guevara, CLAS Project Coordinator, “the project has responsibility to the NAFPs and it is vital that we equip them with resources, information and training in order to continue ongoing activities.” CEO, Dr. Vyjayanthi Lopez, concurs with this and adds, “NABs and NAFPs have to work together in order to make regional accreditation a reality.”

Much of what was discussed at this meeting will go forward into the Planning Meeting scheduled for 12-13 January at the Secretariat on the RQI-3 project, for which funding was recently approved. The next PSC meeting is scheduled for April.