Jamaica Gov’t labs get J$269m EU support

(Jamaica Observer) Jamaica will receive euro 2.25 million (J$269.2 million) from the European Union (EU) aimed at increasing the nation’s capacity for product testing and boosting export competitiveness.

Government signed off on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Capacity-Building Project yesterday at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) office in Kingston. The overall objective of the project is to facilitate increased and more diversified exports of agricultural and agri-processed products.

Seven public sector laboratories will benefit from the EPA Capacity Building Pro-ject — the BSJ’s chemistry and microbiology labs, the Pesticides Research Labora-tory at the University of the West Indies, and four labs at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The labs will benefit from procurement of labarotory equipment and consumables, training and certification.