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UNIDO to assist Nepal on standards
KATHMANDU, OCT 20 - United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) is financing a project for Nepal to enhance the national capacity on Standard, Metrology, Testing and Quality (SMTQ).
The project will also be implemented in three other least developed countries of the South Asian region including Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives, said Govinda Prasad Kusum, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).
The organisation has earmarked a budget of US$ 2.2 million for the project that will come into effect from this fiscal year. In fact, a project executing body has already been constituted in Nepal under the coordinatorship of Dr Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, Secretary at MoICS.
Among others, the project aims to build institutional and national capacity to quality testing and standard to facilitate trade and market access for the South Asian LDCs, said Kusum.
The project will run for two years and in two phases during which the capacity of the government laboratories and departments that test the quality and standard of the consumer goods would be strengthened.
Standard of Department of Standard and Metrology (DoSM) and Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DoFTQC) will be raised to international level.
"Under the project, testing laboratory and certification capacities will be developed, and the broader issue of conformity assessment and mutual recognition capacity will be addressed," said Kusum.
He also informed that a technical team of the UNIDO visited the capital recently to undertake the preliminary study on the matter.
In the first phase, awareness development on standard and quality testing has been focussed upon. Also, programmes to harmonise regional standard and develop a regional conformity assessment mechanism will be run.
"Likewise, institutional capacity relating to technical barrier to trade and SMTQ infrastructure will be developed during the first phase," said Kusum.
In the second phase, programmes to upgrading the quality testing laboratory and providing requisite equipment to metrology, chemical and microbiology lab will be executed.
Apart from these, the project aims to modernise process to issuing quality certification and developing technical manpower in the field.
"The project aims to bridge the gap between quality testing procedures of the country and demand of the international market," said Kusum. "The project will develop a detailed action plan for each of the four countries where the project will be implemented," he added.
Quality has become a crucial issue in the international trade and a determining factor in market access of late.
Also, the country has a responsibility to comply with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provisions and the project is expected to assist the country on the matter as well.Posted on: 2003-10-19 11:12
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