 Good day and welcome to Nation Beat. I am your host today, Marciano Busby. And today we have some very esteemed individuals with us. First, we have an excellency, Ms. Leslie Sonderson from the British High Commission. Good day to you. Good to have you here with us. Thank you. Then we have from the British Standards Institution, Mr. Ricardo Ben Venuti. Good day, Ricardo. Good to see you. And Dr. Mike Pete, who is, Ricardo actually is the lead project manager for International Projects for the British Standards Institution. And Dr. Mike Pete, who is the team leader in Standards Partnership from the BSI. Also, we have Mr. Vinnie Manuel, who is the director of the Sinochial Bureau of Standards. Good day to all of you. It's such a pleasure to have you all here. Thank you. First off, we will give our opening remarks to her excellency, Leslie Sonderson, to tell us a little bit about the UK aid and what the British Standards Institution is doing in St. Lucia. Wonderful, thank you so much. And thank you very much for having us today to talk a little bit about what's happening in St. Lucia and what the UK is doing in partnership in St. Lucia to help with reform and progress and growth. So the UK St. Lucia partnership, as everybody knows, is a long-standing one and a very broad and deep one. We're working in many, many sectors, but where we are in St. Lucia, in terms of helping St. Lucia's development as a small island developing state, is very much about climate resilience and economic resilience and economic growth and growth for the nation, but also growth for people in their daily lives and supporting them and their livelihoods. So a lot of what people think about what the UK is doing here can often be about physical projects and what we can see on the ground. But a lot of what we're doing in terms of our partnerships is about policy and advice and legal frameworks and setting the framework for St. Lucia's growth and prosperity. And that's a bit about what we're talking about today, actually. And it's work that we're doing, not just in St. Lucia, but across the OECS. And an important part of that, in terms of growth for St. Lucia, is trade. And there's a number of things I just want to mention briefly. One thing is the economic partnership agreement. It's a long-standing arrangement between the EU and St. Lucia. There's a cariforum, actually, a cariform EU economic partnership agreement, which I noticed in the newspaper last week there was a bit of a celebrating a milestone that has existed for 15 years. Well, of course, the UK was part of that economic partnership agreement. And when we left the European Union, cariform in the UK signed its own economic partnership agreement with the same benefits and objectives as the original one under the EU, but very much with the same provisions. So there's a bit of continuity for St. Lucia and the other countries of the region in terms of duty-free, tariff-free access for a whole range of goods and services in both directions. And when we looked at the studies in terms of the economic partnership for the UK, when that came into effect, and it was signed here in St. Lucia in 2019, the studies show that there's still a lot of capacity for growth to increase trade, no matter what the sector in goods and services. So it could be agricultural goods, food and beverage, manufacturing. So I hope that gives people some encouragement that there is capacity, there is potential out there for more trade with the UK. Even though we're a long-standing traditional partner, there's still opportunities there. Another part of what we've been doing is supporting agencies here in St. Lucia to promote exports to the UK. So through the International Trade, or Organised International Trade Association Corporation, we're working with exports in Lucia and a number of specific businesses and sectors, so the honey sector and Sargassum Spring to mind, but also the creative industries we've been supporting to some degree as well. And then another aspect of what we're doing in terms of trade for development is what you're going to hear about today from the British Standards Institution to make sure that St. Lucia is ready and prepared and all the sectors of St. Lucia to participate in global trade, not just with the UK, but obviously that's one of our interests because there's definitely a win-win, mutual benefits there, but beyond that as well. Thank you very much for having us. Oh, thank you. So you mentioned the British Standards Institution. So Ricardo, can you tell me what is the British Standards Institution and what are they doing in St. Lucia? I certainly can. So BSI, the British Standards Institution is the UK National Standards Body, funded in 1901. It was the first National Standards Body in the world. It is now an independent global company that delivers not only standards, we don't only develop standards, but also we support businesses around the world in certification, testing, and we deliver trainings. We start working in St. Lucia already from 2018 under the Common Standard Network. There was another UK-funded initiative and we work in St. Lucia for more than four years. We're supporting not only SLBS, the Bureau of Standards of St. Lucia, but also the St. Lucia government. We deliver training capacity building for SLBS, training for private sector and SMEs, and we also support the St. Lucia government in drafting the national quality policy. Mike probably later will explain what a national quality policy is. Okay, actually I think I would like to know what a national quality policy is, but let's give Mike a chance to, Dr. Mike Pete, a chance to explain that to us. Thanks, that's what we did. Of course, the policy is there to address a problem. So what is the problem that the policy is there to address? Historically, when we've looked at capacity building for trade and other activities, you find that when you're exporting a product, you suddenly find problems maybe in the target market as far as test results that are not accepted or inspection that is doubted or certification that is a problem for the local producer or supplier as far as their foreign market suppliers are concerned. And so to address this more in a holistic way and not to do this kind of very crisis driven activity that's been a hallmark of the past, worldwide now people are seeing there's a need to proactively address this and the solution is called a quality policy. What that does is it comes and helps a country look at their strategic export imperatives and it starts to look at what is the technical infrastructure that will be required proactively to help this trade and facilitate the trade. And so you're doing it because some of this capacity building takes two or three years. You can't just take the crop and then just take it to the harbor and export it. You've got to do all these tests. And if those tests and inspections can be done locally and accepted in the target market, then there's a lot then that can be done, especially if it's perishable produce. So the policy is really there to help guide the infrastructure capacity building from a country strategic target market and produce perspective. Okay, so what methodology did you use to adopt the draft policy or to develop the draft policy? BSI was invited along with many other stakeholders in 2019 to the United Nations in Vienna to the Industrial Development Organization and we looked at the policies that have been developed in the 10 year period prior to 2019 and we spent two years basically looking at what were best practices, what had worked and where the issues were. And the biggest thing that came out of those interactions were three documents that are now the benchmark documents that are used. But the really important thing was that policy is good and it takes a while to develop but the implementation is key. And the implementation must be sector driven. And so this is what we've been working with local stakeholders, with the SLBS and with government to identify what are the important sectors that need this capacity building now to make sure that we develop these activities in a modular way. And of course then that approach and the understanding can then be spread across other sectors as well. So, thank you. So Mr. Emmanuel, can you tell me what the experience was like having the pilot for the Commonwealth Standards Network launched here in St. Lucia and at the SLBS? Well, the Commonwealth Standards Network's aim is to ensure and increase inter-common wealth trade. The intervention of the CSN assisted SLBS in one developing a draft national quality policy which we are currently refining. It also allowed us to increase our specific components such as standardization, metrology, certification, accreditation and also quality promotions. The development of what has occurred with the CSN allows us to achieve what is the foremost aim of international standardization which is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services through the elimination of technical barriers to trade. We've been able through our standard development process to adopt over 350 ISO standards which will assist in our agricultural development. We've also been able to achieve accreditation in metrology and in our compliance systems for inspections to ISO 17-025 and ISO 17-020. These initiatives allowed a robust quality infrastructure in St. Lucia and in the development of the quality policy it allows the private sector and SMEs to have access to international markets through an accredited chain of supply and conformity systems so that we meet the necessary principles of tested ones accepted everywhere. So that means we had several successes through this program then? Yes, there are many successes and they continue to emerge. We have products which can be exported directly. We continue to work with our other development partners along with exports and ratio. We have specific areas in terms of small crops and fresh produce. We look at specific crops such as Seamos honey and it has also allowed us to fully develop our national infrastructure. We have through the CSN project assisted other national labs such as the Forensic Lab in achieving accreditation. We are currently working with the National Agricultural Diagnostic Facility to bring on board the fully commissioned NADAF. We're also working with our Ministry of Infrastructure in assistance in the materials testing lab to also bring that lab to the point of accreditation. All of these initiatives will assist in the sustainable development of St. Lucia. We, with the national quality policy we are also working with the Ministry of Health in ensuring the accreditation of quality services for healthcare. That's fantastic, but that is awesome. Ricardo, you earlier mentioned the standards partnership program and how it, so how is it linked to the Commonwealth Standards Network and how did BSI come to develop it? Thank you, yeah, so standard partnership is the reason why we're all here today. So, building on the success is that the director was mentioning of CSN, of Commonwealth Standards Network. In 2023, the UK government launched with BSI the standard partnership program which is a global program that we are delivering 11 different countries and regions. Here in the Caribbean, we're working with CorsQ which is the regional standard organization and we sell SLBS here in St. Lucia building on all the big achievement we developed during CSN. The idea is to use international standard to encourage countries to use international standard to boost inclusive and sustainable growth through trade and investment. Currently, we are delivering standard partnership in St. Lucia and other islands in the Caribbean. The idea is to follow up on what we left on the national quality policy which is still a draft under CSN, support SLBS and the governor of St. Lucia in refreshing the policy and a proper implementation strategy based on a target sector which is CMOS. We will talk about later. And then also deliver SMEs training especially on the food safety sector. So, we will have expert that will stay here for three weeks next month and support SMEs in the food safety area. How many phases does this project, this partnership foresee? Well, hopefully more than one. So, finally, we are delivering out the first phase. We had a pilot in 2023. Now we have the first implementation phase and we hopefully will receive further UK funds to expand to next phases from already this year. So, okay, break it down first. What are the main objectives of the standards partnership? So, the main objective, as I said before, is to encourage and support quality infrastructure like SLBS in all these 11 countries and government to use international standards. International standards and quality is a vector to boost growth sustainable growth and inclusive growth. And this is the main objective of standard partnership which we will deliver through training, capacity building activities and policy work, as Mike explained before. So, folks, what we are about is trade facilitation, growth for both the economy and for small businesses. This is why the work of the Sillusion Bureau of Standards and also the BSI is so important. So, where are we in the process now, Mike? What exactly will we be doing in this phase now? Right, as Ricardo has said, we are now looking very specifically at a sector, CMOS, and we've done a lot of work with national experts that are now looking at the requirements on the ground along the value chain, but focused from the testing, the inspection, the certification, the metrology, the standards, et cetera that are required to assist that area. And as part of the previous project, we, although Ricardo is saying the role of international standards is key, when we came here originally and started to look at the area of food safety, we realized the international standards are a very, very high benchmark at the moment. And so, SLBS took the decision and we looked at the regional options and they took the decision to create a group of national documents to address food safety in St. Lucia and they have now published two, a Code of Practice and a National Standard that look at food safety and hygiene. And as part of this now, we will be looking to train farmers and others in these basic principles because although we look in a trade facilitation, we must also look at the health and safety of the citizens of St. Lucia and protecting the environment as well. And that's where the policy looks not only at the requirements for export, but also what needs to be done in place to assure the self health and safety of citizens and to protect the environment here in St. Lucia so that exports are sustainable. And this is a journey. So we're right at that point now and as Ricardo has said, the expert will come, work with national experts, work with another UK funded project as well to get the synergies that we can achieve through this to really start to make progress practically on the ground in a pragmatic way against standards that have been approved and gone through the SLBS processes. Thank you. So we will continue with Nation Beat after this brief word from the Commonwealth Standards Network. Standards affect every aspect of our lives. Standards apply to goods and services that we consume every day. A standard is a set of requirements that must be met consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose. International standards are created and managed by organizations like the International Organization for Standardization, ISO has developed over 22,000 international standards. The St. Lucia Bureau of Standards is a member of ISO and an affiliate of IEC. SLBS has developed 200 national standards and is in the process of adopting a further 500 standards from ISO IEC as national standards. Standards are important for consumer safety, competitiveness and trade in goods and services. As a small island developing state, it is essential that St. Lucia has a strong regime of standards to drive growth in productive sectors and ensure the safety of its citizens and visitors. This message is brought to you by the Commonwealth Standards Network. Welcome back to Nation Beat. Your Excellency, you were talking about projects and products. What is the new product that you see bursting out of St. Lucia that will make a difference? Well, the time I've been here in St. Lucia, of course, I've just been bowled over by the number of small and medium-sized enterprises and the range of products that are being developed and refined here in St. Lucia for domestic sale, but also some for export already, but also with ambitions for export of more. I think I remember my first meeting with exports in St. Lucia, which was just after COVID, actually I think we're still coming through COVID. They were telling me about the growth of the CMOS industry through COVID. One of the success stories of COVID, actually, the number of more people employed, the more production, and the more potential for export, which we've seen happening. And so, as been mentioned, the project on standards, CMOS has been articulated as a focal area for the work that the BSI and the SLBS are doing. Last year, a group submitted a funding proposal to the UK government, not to my office, but to the UK government directly, actually, which, of course, we were consulted on. And the project is entirely about sustainable CMOS farming, highlighting some of the issues that have already been mentioned this morning in terms of health and safety for people, for the product producers, for the consumers, and quality standards for export, so maintaining the reliability of the production and the quality of it to be able to meet the standards for reliable and continuous and sustainable export. I mean, the UK government, of course, consulted us, and it chimed immediately with what we've been hearing here in St Lucia, and we knew the partners in the project. It's a fantastic consortium of NGOs and government, exports in Lucia, the National Trust, the St Lucia National Conservation Fund, the CMOS Farmers Associations, the SLBS, and others. And so, the UK government has granted, I think it's about one million EC dollars over the next three years for this project to work on sustainable CMOS farming from the point of identifying where the farms are in relation to other water users, to the planting, the farming, the drying, the processing, the packaging, and the export. It's a whole chain that's being looked at. And it's really important work in terms of trying to capitalise on the potential that is there for CMOS that we know is there, which are already evidence of it. From, I can think of Expo in Dubai, what a fantastic success story it was. I think flying off the shelves is what I heard about CMOS. So we're very pleased we've been able to, this project has come on stream at the time that the BSI and the SLBS partnership is renewed, because this is a longstanding partnership we've been hearing about going back to years before COVID even. And so it's great to have the BSI back here in the ground, and hopefully, this is just one of many return visits. And that now we're able to kind of get this synergy between the work that's happening with SLBS and the British Institution, and this project, which is a multi-stakeholder. So, and it's just the right timing for that. So we're very pleased. I never thought I would hear CMOS flying off the shelves in Dubai. That is great. Yeah, it's not quite the right analogy, is it? No, no, but, no, no, I mean. No, I mean, it's fantastic to hear that we can have a product that will be getting such international merit. I mean, there was a time when bananas was our main crop, but now to see that there are other industries that St. Lucia can benefit from, especially our regular everyday people, as long as they have the vision, as long as they understand the product, that is great. Mr. Emmanuel, does that mean we will be having a mass adoption of, or a mass production of CMOS standards? Well, we do encourage you for the increase in production of CMOS in and of itself. What we have done is taken a greater approach to standardization and ensuring that standards are accessible for our MSMEs and small farmers. The lessons learned through COVID showed that the food safety is a very essential area, and in taking that greater approach, we wanted to ensure that the producers had access to the markets and would be able to demonstrate conformity to a standard, and that standard is minimum levels of safety. So our prerequisite programs are for minimum level of safety, and you then go through a greater approach to a hazard compliant until you reach to the international standard. But once you are able to trade in your local markets, then you are able to trade in the international markets. The beauty that we have in St. Lucia is that our standards are acceptable. Once you are able to trade locally, you are able to trade internationally. And we wanted to ensure that our farmers and our producers were not locked out of the local market. And we have been able to achieve that, and we will continue to assist. We have a few programs going on in packaging and labeling. A few weeks ago, we saw the relaunch of about 20 different products which have been rebranded and repackaged through assistance through exports in Lucia. And we note that as we move along the continuum, food safety is a critical area. And CMOS is our food product. We also have work in other areas which are critical, such as honey. And as we work with our national testing facilities at NADAF to ensure that we have the requisite certification and accreditation, and being able to give their, as SLBS and the conformity assessment body, able to give them the requisite certificates of free sale to ensure that our products are accepted everywhere. So that means we will soon be having this new golden industry, CMOS, in Saint Lucia. That is such great news. Anything else you would like to share with us, Ricardo? Not really. Well, apart from the fact that, yes, we are really happy to be back in Saint Lucia after the success of CSN, we have another flagship project funded by the UK. And we know how after COVID and the international arena it's really difficult now to fund a development project like this. So we're really happy that the UK government is still supporting the Caribbean and Saint Lucia with this project. And we're really looking forward to this phase of standard partnership and future phase of standard partnership in the region and keep supporting the Caribbean government, Saint Lucia government and local SMEs. To an end straight. Dr. Pitz? It's always a pleasure to be here in Saint Lucia. I come from South Africa and I just see a lot of synergies between the challenges here and the challenges that we face in Africa as well. And it's really good to get those kind of South-South relationships entrenched and working again. So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to working with the local experts. We know them and we really value their inputs and it's a great team of people we're working with here locally. Thank you. Mr. Emmanuel. Well, we're excited to continue our partnership with BSI and we thank the UK government for the continued assistance. We look forward to completing the review of the national quality policy and its publication and further interventions in food safety and in assistance with the accreditation of the materials testing lab at the Ministry of Infrastructure. Thank you. Your Excellency. Yeah, thank you very much for having us this morning to talk about this really important work. And again, like everybody else, we're looking forward to the next steps and to seeing some results in terms of developing the prosperity of Saint Lucia and also protecting the environment, the beautiful environment that's here in Saint Lucia through the new industries that we're trying to make the most of. It's really important that we do this in a sustainable way. Thank you very much. Thank you for joining us on Nation Beats. Don't forget that we, the Saint Lucia Bureau of Websites of the Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards website, www.slbs.org, on it is a, there's a resource of information. We have also made all our compulsory standards put that we've made them accessible on the website. So it will be very useful for you to at least learn, go on it, check some of them out. You could read the standards and it could help you in your business. Also, check us out on Facebook and social media and keep following us because then that way you'll learn more about this golden product that will be coming out very soon. Thank you again. I am Masiyanu Busby and you're watching Nation Beats.