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The Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards opened activities to mark World Standards Day 2020 with a press and social media launch of a month long of activities to focus attention of the observance.
This year ,World Standards Day (WSD) is being observed under the theme “Protect the Planet with Standards”. The WSD 2020 theme recognizes our resilience as a global community and therefore is amplifying how standards has assisted and made possible tremendous achievements in human welfare, environmental protection and economic resilience in every generation of standards work throughout the years of standards development.
The SLBS is using the opportunity to celebrate its achievements over the years and advocate for an appreciation of standardization to improve our quality of life, showcase opportunities for implementation of standards by both the public and private sectors to better livelihoods, protect human and plant health and add value to trade and commerce.
Given the changes and strict protocols occasioned by COVID 19, this year most of SLBS’ engagements have moved online, a series of activities including awareness raising meetings for conformity assessment, standards development and metrology will be delivered via Zoom and is available to all audiences.
The awareness meetings will focus on product recalls and what the consumer should know, ensuring food safety with certification, and the importance of metrology to the economy.
As has been the custom over the years, an address to the nation to be delivered by the Minister with responsibility for the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards will be aired on Friday 13th October on NTN and all major television stations.
The Minister with oversight for the SLBS is Minister of Commerce Hon. Bradley Felix.
World Standards Day was established to pay tribute to the many volunteers on technical committees who work with standards organization around the world to develop standards.
Minister with responsibility for the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards Honourable Bradley Felix has committed Saint Lucia to setting goals for protecting the planet, with support for an ambitious agenda of standards adoption and implementation. The Minister made the statement in an address to the nation to mark the observance of World Standards Day 2020.
The full text of the address is accessed here.
The SLBS marked the observance of World Standards Day 2020 with a number of activities including testimonials of advocacy for protection of the planet in respect of the WSD theme.
Director of the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards Mr. Verne Emmanuel and Head of Department Compliance Mr. Hubert Reynolds spoke of the subject.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global standards developer, and the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) are pleased to announce the signing of a Collaboration & License Agreement between their organizations.
The Agreement, signed on October 6, 2020, that due to the health contingency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the signature was made virtually by both Parties within the framework of World Standards Day, held at the Press launch of World Standards Day Activities in Saint Lucia. This Agreement is intended to provide a framework to developing technical standards to improve the quality of life, well-being and public safety the rational use of resources, innovation, productivity and trade, for collaboration for Saint Lucia and its stakeholders.
This agreement enables SLBS to leverage and reference UL standards within Saint Lucia and permits both organizations to collaborate further using good practices in standards development.
“This MoU arises from regional collaboration with CROSQ and the initiative to establish relationships with each member country to meet the needs of each one.” said Phil Piqueira, Vice President Global Standards, UL.
For its part, Director of the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS), Ing.Verne Emmanuel P.Eng , conveyed the following sentiments “This agreement follows a similar agreement signed last year at the ISO general Assembly with CROSQ and will significantly benefit SLBS and UL in the Standards Development and Conformity Assessment Processes. The ability for SLBS to partner with UL will significantly, minimize health and safety concerns, reduce the processing times for the conformity assessment of electronic items and other consumer goods, which will facilitate trade and have a positive impact on the ease of doing business.”
Standards are essential to public safety and confidence and improve the quality of products and services in the marketplace. UL leads the research and science needed to understand complex safety issues and develop standards. Further, we bring the right stakeholders together to effectively develop consensus-based standards. UL also plays a key role in the development and harmonization of national and international standards. As of today, UL has developed more than 1,700 documents, including standards and outline investigations, and utilizes the expertise of more than 400 Standards Technical Panels.
Underwriters Laboratories UL is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the UL mission through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. They conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide the safe, sustainable commercialization of evolving technologies. UL fosters communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. The organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security and sustainability.
SLBS Pilots New CARICOM Energy Efficiency Labels
Saint Lucia, through the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards, is one of three selected CARICOM countries, set to pilot the new CARICOM Energy Efficiency (CEE) Labels.
The CEE Labels initiative is aimed at affixing a regionally recognized label that informs on the energy efficiency capacity of a number of household electrical appliances. The project to be done in phases will see the first stage focusing on light bulbs (CFLs and LEDs), air conditioners and refrigerating devices (freezers and fridges).
To introduce the labels to the public, the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards & Quality (CROSQ), coordinators of the Regional Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme on October 1, 2020, released a calypso-themed jingle as a public service announcement in both Saint Lucia and Belize, two of the three piloting states. The other is Jamaica, which was not a part of the public awareness initiative.
The funding for the CEE Labels PSA was provided by the Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Caribbean Buildings Project, which is funded by the United Nations Environment Program’s Global Environment Facility, and managed by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
The jingles, in English and Kwéyòl, will be broadcast on radio and television until December 2020. They are also available on social media channels of the SLBS and CROSQ.
CROSQ Technical Officer, Quality Promotions, Ms Latoya Burnham says “This jingle is intended to introduce the public, in some cases, to their first glimpse of what the CARICOM Energy Efficiency (CEE) Labels will look like. The labels were created after the development of requisite labelling standards for LED and CLF light bulbs, air conditioners and refrigerating equipment (fridges and freezers). The standards set out the requirements for the labels and the jingles simply give a look at what each of these labels in piloting states will look like.
Ms Burnham further states that “As two of the three piloting countries which are supported through the ESD Project, Belize and Saint Lucia, through their respective bureaux of standards, were crucial to getting this done and the jingles will first air in those two countries between October and December 2020,” said CROSQ Technical Officer, Quality Promotions, Ms Latoya Burnham.
The animation to accompany the jingle features the labels, as well as the CEE Labels mascot, Q-Point. Q-Point – the point to quality – is represented by an angular character with a glowing bottom that reflects the green to red energy efficiency scale visible on some of the labels, as well as the CEE Logo that emphasizes understanding the labels are “the key to energy efficiency”. It has also been converted to, the Kweyol prominently spoken in Saint Lucia.
CROSQ Project Coordinator, Ms Janice Hilaire added, “We are really proud of what was produced with team work and lots of collaboration. We saw the Barbados-based company T.A.L.E.N.T., which comprises talented artists from around the region, bring our vision to life and the singing and narration from our regional artistes was really outstanding. We are proud of this effort and the support received from the ESD, UNEP-GEF and the 5Cs, as well as our bureaux to push us this far. There’s still a lot more to come.”
The animated jingle is currently being broadcast on social media pages of CROSQ, the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards and the Belize Bureau of Standards, and the audio version is being aired on radio in the two countries.