Multi-million Euro project aids standards institute

The Namibia Standards Institution (NSI) has announced its participation in a 15 million Euro (N$244.5 million) technical assistance project funded by the European Union (EU).
The ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) EU Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) programme is a trade-related programme funded by the EU’s main instrument for providing development aid to these nations, the tenth European Development Fund.
In announcing Namibia’s participation, NSI spokesperson Joanette Eises said the project involved activities such as training and attachment of NSI staff to other institutions.
“The project aims to make recommendations for incorporating a new national quality policy into a comprehensive national quality infrastructure that includes the developing of national standards and the provision of testing, inspection and certification activities for Namibian products and services,” the NSI said.
“It further aims to establish a stakeholder engagement plan and a support programme for small, medium and micro enterprises in the food supply and construction sectors in Namibia, and to further assist the NSI’s metrology division to implement the forthcoming Metrology Act.”
The ACP EU TBT programme was originally launched in March 2013, and is expected to run until July 2017.
As the national standards body (NSB), the NSI is responsible for coordinating all standardisation and quality assurance activities in the country.

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