The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) yesterday launched an awareness programme for 31 new standards for electrical items coming into the country and February 2020 is seen as the cutoff point for substandard goods.
A release from MPI said that the Government Electrical Inspectorate arm of the ministry launched an Awareness Campaign, with electricians and importers of electrical products, in collaboration with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and the Guyana Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) and other key stakeholders.
During the launch at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown the release said that the participants were told that the new standards will be used as a threshold to commence monitoring of the importation of electrical equipment. The equipment which will now be monitored by the GNBS, in addition to the fifteen other types of products currently being scrutinised includes seasonal and holiday decorative products; lamp holders; armoured cables; panel boards; surge protective devices; cords sets and power-supply cords and thermoplastic-insulated wires and cables among several others.
The standards can be found on the GNBS and MoPI websites.
Importers of the products listed must register with the Bureau of Standards and the items will also be flagged at importers’ bonds and even sale outlets for inspection.
Head of the Product Compliance Department at GNBS, Shailendra Rai said that sub-standard electrical products, after February 2020, will not be allowed to enter the jurisdiction. However, he said that inspections will be done at electrical stores before and after the implementation of the standards to ensure compliance. Sub-standard products will not be seized after the deadline if inspectors observe that stocks were reduced and not restocked.
Minister of Business, Haimraj Rajkumar said, “I really believe that the Guyanese public, the Guyanese consumers must be given an opportunity to access products of the highest quality and hence, the urgency of me having these standards passing through cabinet and being approved.”
Executive Director at CCAC, Dawn Cush assured the stakeholders, “We work along with the other agencies to ensure we lend them the knowledge of the legislation to ensure that the development of these standards are in compliance with the law.”
She added that the Commission is presently not in receipt of “an alarming number of complaints” as compared with the other agencies.
The release said that the new standards will seek to improve the products being sold to customers which were developed in just over a year by Chairperson of the National Electro Technical Committee at GNBS, Rowen Willabus.
