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FROM THE.......
DIRECTOR’S DESK

The Caribbean Common Market Standards Council (CCMSC) was set up in 1976 to advise the Council of Ministers (now Council for Trade and Economic Development -COTED) of the Caribbean Community on matters relating to Standards and Technical Regulations. Since that time the scope of National Standards Bodies all over the world has changed drastically. In 1986 the introduction of the ISO 9000 series of Quality Management & Quality Assurance Standards led to a world wide emphasis on quality management systems in manufacturing as one of the pre-requisites for export and competition in the international markets. The CCMSC in its present structure could act neither as assessor nor auditor nor registrar and firms were forced to look outside the region for certification. The advent of NAFTA, FTAA, WTO, and the impending CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) saw the CCMSC being constantly asked to deal with matters outside of its original terms of reference and beyond the capabilities of its informal structure e.g. disputes between Member States relating to standards and technical regulations; CET suspensions etc. A more recent development and potential trade barrier is the ISO 14000 series of Environmental Management Standards.

At the 12th AGM of the CCMSC in Suriname in March 1996, the directors of the regional NSB's recognised and agreed on the need to restructure the CCMSC. The restructured organisation would be called the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality and would be a legal organisation with the ability to enter into formal relations with other regional and international agencies on behalf of the Caribbean Community. At the eight meeting of COTED it was agreed that the headquarters of CROSQ would be located in Barbados and that the present CARICOM Secretariat's budgetary contribution formula would be applied in relation to member states' (MS) contribution to the CROSQ budget. The Agreement establishing CROSQ was signed my most MS in January at the Heads of Government meeting in Belize and is provisionally applied. Antigua and Barbuda signed the Agreement in March 2002 in Antigua.

This new entity, CROSQ would be in a position to deal with investigations and arbitrations on standards related matters in a more efficient and effective manner; as a disinterested third party CROSQ would be best placed to assist in dispute resolutions. Under CROSQ the region would qualify for recognition by ISO as more that half the CCMSC members are members of ISO - this would be of immense benefit to the smaller economies that are unable to afford ISO membership subscription. Other technical and financial assistance will also become available to us, as there will now be a formal regional entity through which such assistance can be channelled.

The first meeting of the CROSQ Council was held in St Vincent and the Grenadines in April 2002. The Chairman, Mr Dudley Rhynd in his opening remarks pointed out the CROSQ is a necessary adjunct to the CSME as standards form the basis of Market Access in a single market.

Dr Jerol Thompson, Minister with responsibility for the St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards in his feature address stated that our central problem at present is how to act in an era of uncertainty, as conformity to universally accepted standards is inevitable to create a level playing field. He further pointed out that we need to enhance our standards infrastructure to take advantage of opportunities in trading regimes and that standards and standards related activities evoke images and desires of things that can be measured and quantified - thus the need for a unified body is self evident. The formal opening of the CROSQ headquarters is due to take place in Barbados in June 2002.