EXPANSION OF CERTIFICATION SERVICES BY THE NATIONAL CERTIFICATION BODY OF JAMAICA (NCBJ)

EPA & CSME Standby Facility for Capacity Building

Total grant: EUR 157,552

The Expansion of Certification Services by the National Certification Body of Jamaica Project will improve Food Safety Management Systems in response to the immediate capacity building needs of the export sector. The project, which is financed by the European Union (EU) and supervised by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will provide support to NCBJ to assess and certify the food safety management systems of local and regional agroprocessors which comply with globally accepted standards.

Implementation will strengthen Jamaica’s National Quality Infrastructure (NQI)- the system which supports the production and delivery of high-quality goods and services. The project is also a potential game changer for Jamaican exporters as it will enable greater access to new markets and increase the value and quality of local exports. The two-year project has been deliberately structured to increase and promote gender equality and the economic empowerment of women and men exporters through capacity building support for the National Certification Body of Jamaica (NCBJ) and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ).

Once completed, firms in CARIFORUM countries with a keen interest in extra-regional food exports - such as Belize, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago- requiring specialist assistance related to food safety management will be able to access NCBJs new services. This will better enable regional exporters to satisfy the food safety requirement demands of their target markets. Additionally, national standards bodies in the Region will also gain access to the institutional knowledge of the BSJ and NCBJ related to standards regulations, certification, and best practices.

With this project, the NCBJ continues to further strengthen conformity assessment systems to support trade, building on initiatives, such as the Agricultural Competitiveness Programme (ACP) funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and the previous CSME Standby Facility also financed by the EU.

Project benefits include:

(a) Greater focus and capacity building in a selected Food Safety Management Systems suitable for the majority of CARIFORUM exporters.
(b) Availability of accessible and low-cost certification services in FSMS in Jamaica and the Region.
(c) Enhancement of the NQI in Jamaica.
(d) Enhancement of a quality institution that serves the Region.
(e) Improved technical capacity of quality practitioners with new skills and certification training.
(f) Improved financial sustainability of the NCBJ through new business and income generation.

EPA and CSME Standby Facility

The Expansion of Certification Services by the National Certification Body of Jamaica Project is the first project approved by the EPA and CSME Standby Facility Steering Committee to be implemented in Jamaica. The EPA and CSME Standby Facility is a EUR 8.75 million programme financed by the European Development Fund (EDF) being managed by CDB to support projects in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago (CARIFORUM). It is intended to build capacity in the region and better position businesses to trade within CARIFORUM and the European Union.

Standby Facility Introduction Video: