Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Looks Beyond Vt20

Tourists should be able to buy and eat from road markets, commonly known as Vt20 Markets, in the future. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Trade, Joe Natuman, made the statement on at the historic occasion of the launching of the Bureau of Standards Office.
Natuman said one day tourists would have confidence that they would not get sick from eating from the Vt20’s because the women vendors would have standards to comply with,when selling their produce.
Standards establish a framework for how a business manages its key processes. They can help whether your business offers products or services and regardless of your size or industry.
With the establishment of the institution, Vanuatu can be able to increase its exports and control the quality of its imports. It also enables Vanuatu to develop, promote and enforce standards to improve the quality and performance of goods.
Minister Natuman highlighted that with agricultural products as one of Vanuatu’s main trade through its export of raw and value added products, a major challenge encountered is the quantity and quality of these products. The two mentioned issues contribute to unhealthy exports of our products which in turn a bulk of our revenue is spent on imports.
The Bureau of Standards is part of Vanuatu’s fulfillment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement of which Vanuatu is a member. With our own institution, Vanuatu can become part of international bodies such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO), allow us to be able to draft international standards.
Through the BoS, Vanuatu can use these standards in our regulations and National Standards to rely on and ensure the quality that we expect.
Every Government agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trades and Tourism will have to create and develop their own standards that will be complied with.
The functions of the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards is to promote standardization in industry and commerce, Act as depository for all standards, prepare draft standards and declare them as Vanuatu standards and Make arrangements or provide facilities for examination and testing of commodities, any material or substance manufactured, produced, processed or treated.
Other functions include providing for the use of standard marks, provide for the assessment of manufacturing, process or management systems and their certification and provide for the examination, testing and calibration of instruments, appliances, apparatus and weights and measures.
It will provide for the testing of commodities manufactured in Vanuatu or imported into Vanuatu for the purpose of determining whether the commodities conform to the provisions of this Act or any other Act dealing with standards or technical regulations, keep and maintain the National Standards, Secondary Standards for weights and measures and calibrate the working standards
Part of its function is to charge fees connected to the functions of the Act coordinate and manage the international, regional and bilateral interactions with other standardization bodies or organizations, maintain a national information centre on matters of standardization, industry, science and technology and energy.
 
(Source: TAM TAM The Official Vanuatu Tourism Newsletter   August 2017)