World Standards Day – October 14: Standards level the playing field |18 October 2014

The 45th World Standards Day was commemorated on October 14 and the Seychelles Bureau of Standards has contributed the following feature related to this year’s theme – Standards Level the Playing Field.

Each year on October 14, members of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as international standards. The aim of such international collaboration is to ease trade, spread knowledge and share technological advances.

Standardisation has long been an important engine for innovation and economic growth. But as the world transitions to a truly global economy, standards have taken on special significance, helping to assure that organisations everywhere can compete on a level economic playing field. This year’s theme ‘Standards Level the Playing Field’ focuses on how standards stimulate trade and overcome artificial trade barriers, helping to make companies, industries, and economies more competitive.  

Globally relevant standards make it easier for many companies – particularly small and medium enterprises – to get their products certified and on the shelves in countries around the world, allowing them to take part in global value chains, benefit from technology transfer, and compete on a more equal footing. Similarly, nations that incorporate international standards into their policies and regulations can allow their citizens access to a wider selection of high-quality goods, while also providing protection against dangerous or faulty products and services. In today’s multi-polar world, where commerce is increasingly international and the growing economic weight of emerging economies is shifting the balance of power, international standards are essential to safeguarding consumer health and safety and stimulating national and international diversification.

Role of Seychelles Bureau of Standards

The Seychelles Bureau of Standards (SBS) was established in 1987 under the enactment of the SBS Act 1987 as the national standards body for the development, promotion and maintenance of standardisation in the country.

The mission of the bureau is to provide national and international capabilities in the areas of standardisation, conformity assessment and metrology in order to enhance the country’s socio-economic development.

As part of the country accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a new SBS Act 2014 was established to make provision for the country’s commitment to comply with the requirements of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). This agreement is aimed at ensuring that our national technical regulations, product standards and conformity assessment procedures (inspection, testing and certification procedures) do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.

Since its establishment, the Seychelles Bureau of Standards has worked with government, private organisations, businesses and industries on various testing, inspection, verification, calibration and standards advisory services in order to help them improve the quality of their goods and services as well as the implementation of codes of good practices.

Services of the bureau

The Standardisation and Information Services (SIS) Division is responsible for the establishment of Seychelles Standards for use by various sectors of the economy and to promote their use and implementation.

A total of 326 national standards have been established to date, five of which have been made mandatory. The Seychelles Bureau of Standards documentation and information centre which is the national reference library for current Seychelles, foreign and international standards and related publications provides standards information services to the local businesses, industries and the general public as part of the bureau’s mission to promote good practices pertaining to standardisation.  

The Construction Material Laboratory (CML) is responsible for the provision of testing services of construction and building materials such as concrete blocks, concrete cubes, cement, aggregates as well as soil in order to ensure sound construction.

The National Metrology Laboratory (NML) operates mainly in the field of industrial metrology and is the custodian of the Seychelles National Reference Standards. NML provides calibration services to industries and the general public for mass, length, temperature, volume, pressure and force which are traceable to higher international standards.

The Legal Metrology Unit (LMU) is responsible to enforce the Weights & Measures Act and Regulations of Seychelles within the industry, trade and commerce sectors in order to ensure fair trading practices for the benefit of both consumers and traders.

The Gas Cylinder Testing Centre (GCTC) provides inspection and testing services for refillable gas cylinders (diving, LPG, oxygen) to verify their compliance with the mandatory standard in order to safeguard the health and safety of users under normal condition of use.

The Biochemical Testing Services Division (BTS) which comprises four laboratories offers a wide range of physical, chemical, microbiological and heavy metal testing services for food and non-food products to determine their compliance to standards and regulatory requirements. These laboratories have been designated as the official testing laboratory for the export of fish and fishery products.

The certification unit is responsible for the operation of the product and system certification scheme and the provision of training on the ISO 9001 Quality Management System standard. Through the provision of these services, various organisations in Seychelles are implementing a quality management system in accordance to ISO 9001: 2008 International standard.

The Fish Inspection and Quality Control unit (FIQCU) which is an important component of the fisheries industry is the competent authority in Seychelles responsible to certify all export of fish and fisheries products to EU and non-EU market.  This unit ensures that all fish and fishery products intended for export complies with the EU standards or other requirements specified by the importing country.

SBS gearing to accredit its conformity assessment facilities

In this complex and highly competitive markets, confidence is required when products or services are traded between economies. Such reassurance is underpinned by accreditation.

As an official conformity assessment laboratory in Seychelles, the bureau is aiming towards achieving accreditation for its conformity assessment services.

Accreditation is the process of providing recognition to an organisation for its competence in performing specific task. It involves the assessment of technical competence of organisation in providing conformity assessment services. Conformity assessment services include testing, calibration, certification (management systems/ product/personnel) and inspection. Accredited conformity assessment is one tool that is helping businesses not only to comply efficiently and effectively with regulations and standards but also to gain competitive advantage from doing so and to expand into new markets, including those overseas.

Businesses that supply or receive accredited conformity assessment results can show credible evidence of conformance with international standards which can be used to distinguish them from their competitors.  Indeed, an increasing number of organisations, in both the public and private sectors are specifying accredited testing, inspection or certification as a precondition to tendering for contracts.

To date, the SBS has been accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 International standard for the testing of pH, conductivity, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite, chloride and fluoride in potable water related to the export of fish and fishery products as well as accreditation for the calibration of mass.

The bureau is still moving forward on its voyage to more parameters accredited. During the course of this year, the Environment laboratory of SBS has completed all the work for validation of heavy metals (Mercury, Lead and Cadmium in fish). The microbiology laboratory has completed validation of tests for total coliform, E.Coli and Intestinal enterococci in water and ice while the Food Chemistry laboratory has completed the method validation of histamine test in fish using HPLC method. Application for accreditation will soon be sought from the Southern African Development Community Accreditation (SADCAS) which is a multi-economy accreditation body established to service the accreditation needs of the SADC member states.

The vision of the bureau is to be the recognised centre of excellence for the provision of standardisation and conformity assessment services to ease trade and industry and deliver quality and confidence.

Benefits of using standards

A standard is a document that sets out requirements for a specific item, material, component, system or service, or describes in detail a particular method or procedure. Using standards can offer a set of powerful business and marketing tools for organisations of all sizes. You can use them to fine-tune your performance and manage the risks you face while operating in more efficient and sustainable ways; they’ll allow you to demonstrate the quality of what you do to your customers; and they help you to see how to embed best practice into your organisation.

Standards are valuable tools that can help your business to:

• ensure the quality and safety of products and/or services,

• achieve compatibility between products and/or components,

• access markets and sell to customers in other countries,

• satisfy your customers’ expectations and requirements,

• reduce costs, eliminate waste and improve efficiency,

• comply with relevant national and international legislations, and

• gain knowledge about new technologies and innovations.

On this occasion, the SBS board members and management would like extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to all the SBS staff for all their sustained efforts and wish all a happy World Standards Day celebration.

For all your standards need, please contact us or pay us a visit at

Seychelles Bureau of Standards (SBS)

Standard House

Providence Industrial Estate

Tel: 4380400

Fax: 4373826

Email: sbsorg@seychelles.net or dgsbs@email.sc


Contributed by the SBS