AS part of its efforts to align Jamaica’s micro, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) with international market expectations, the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) introduced 53 new quality standards in 2024 — 47 pertaining to products and six to services.

“This effort brought the National Standards Catalogue to a total of 760 entries as at December 31, 2024. Another 56 standards were in advanced stages of finalisation, targeting sectors such as construction, bamboo, climate change adaptation, electronics, agro-processing, automotive, coatings, and security systems,” data contained in the latest Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ) released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) indicated.

As the national agency responsible for developing and promoting standards for goods, services, processes, and practices, BSJ ensures that products meet essential quality criteria. These standards provide requirements, specifications, guidelines, and characteristics to ensure that materials, products, and services are consistently fit for purpose. Key considerations include health and safety, reliability, consistency, and environmental sustainability. Engaging with a wide of range of stakeholders — including manufacturers, consumers, regulators, and technical experts — the BSJ works to develop and implement standards.

Beyond standards development, the entity offers services like testing, calibration, certification, and industrial training to support businesses so as to ensure compliance with standards.

Recognising the pivotal role of small businesses in job creation and economic growth, BSJ also rolled out targeted training and capacity-building initiatives that benefited approximately 560 participants. These were delivered across 49 specialised training sessions designed to enhance regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and competitiveness.

“Financial assistance was also extended to eligible MSMEs through discounted access to critical technical services. Over the course of the year 64 enterprises benefited from reduced rates for services such as laboratory testing, product certification, label review, and management systems support, resulting in collective savings of approximately $2.3 million,” the ESSJ further noted.

Throughout the year, further support was also provided through direct technical advisory services which saw a total of 138 MSMEs receiving guidance aimed at improving their regulatory compliance, market access, and certification readiness. As a result of these interventions BSJ said 20 MSMEs were able to be successfully registered with the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA). Others were also able to gain access to domestic markets, adopt or advance their implementation of ISO standards, or even successfully implement good manufacturing practices (GMPs).

“Additionally, initiatives were introduced to support the formalisation of producers within the health and wellness sector. Nineteen businesses received assistance to standardise and register their operations, with plans underway to expand the initiative,” the data further said of some other key outcomes.

With stakeholder engagement remaining an important priority BSJ, through its delivery of sector-specific awareness sessions and technical training, said it was also able to deliver workshops on product standards and export readiness for the cosmetics and personal care industries, as well as capacity-building programmes focused on food safety and quality assurance.

“Collaboration with academic institutions also supported mentorship and skills development in key areas such as food processing, engineering and business operations,” the data also highlighted.