Accreditation of Plant Quarantine hailed as a big deal for Jamaica

Chief executive officer of the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation Sharonmae Shirley has described its granting of IEC/ISO 17020:201 accreditation of the Plant Quarantine/Produce Inspection branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining as a major accomplishment of global significance.

“This is a big deal for Jamaica,” she declared while addressing Thursday’s accreditation recognition ceremony hosted by the agriculture ministry at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew.

“It means that if the results coming out are challenged, Jamaica can say all those persons – our farmers, manufacturers have been inspected by an inspection body that is internationally recognised and we are standing by our data. We are standing by the results and that’s important,” Shirley pointed out.

She went on to explain that the accreditation covers the inspection of commodities for export such as packing house, fresh agricultural produce and herbs, as well as general inspection of fields to determine if phytosanitary and good agricultural practices are implemented as required. It also extends to other areas such as fumigation inspection and the inspection of heat treatment facilities.

“The impact of the accreditation is far-reaching and it extends to two critical aspects that impact all of us – safeguarding the health and food security of our consumers and facilitating global trade. We live in a world that is interconnected through global trade and so accreditation to global standards is crucial to accessing the markets that we would like to access as Jamaicans and so it supports our exports, it supports our manufacturing.”

Source: The Gleaner