GSA, others participate in 2019 ISO week in Cape Town 

A 13 member delegation from five institutions in Ghana are attending the 2019 International Standards Organisation (ISO) week in Cape Town, South Africa. 

The delegation, headed by the deputy Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), in charge of Conformity Assessment,  Mr Charles Amoako, participated in the 53rd DEVCO meeting which focuses on the development of strategies to address standards related challenges in  developing countries, from September 17 to 18. 

The team is also participating in the 42nd General Assembly of the ISO which ends today September 20. 

They include, Mrs Prudence Asamoah-Bonti, Deputy Director General, Operations, GSA, Mr Mark Anthony Taylor, Mr Iddrisu Abdulai, Ms Joyce Okoree, and Ms Barbara Wuttor from the GSA.  

Others are, Mr Hayford Eshun, Forestry Commission, Mrs Akua O. Amartey and Mrs Akua Amponsaa Owusu from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

 Also among the team are Nana Akwasi Awuah,  PMMC and  Dr George Eduful from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

ISO week  

Since its formation in the wake of World War II in 1947, the ISO has set more than 22,000 standards that governments can adopt to help protect their citizens and the environment. 

Examples include the standards that ensure stoves and microwaves are safe and that cleaning products are free of substances that deplete the ozone layer.

The ISO Week 2019 is expected to provide the opportunity to put standards at the heart of the global agenda and help define the strategies that will guide standards organisations . 

It will also help set a clear role for standards in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Opening the ISO General Assembly (today), the President of ISO, Mr John Walter said the challenge shared by member organisations of the ISO was to evolve their strategy and to realise their full potential to contribute to a better future through widespread awareness and use of international standards.

“Climate change, population growth, and pressure on resources threaten to undermine some of the advances that have been made since ISO was founded. ISO week 2019 is the chance to reinforce the relevance of our organisation to today's global agenda,” Mr Walter said. 

Simplified standards 

Speaking to the Graphic online in an interview during the 42nd ISO General Assembly, the head of the Ghanaian delegation, Mr Charles Amoako said the GSA as part of efforts to ensure conformity to standards had begun developing standards document in pictorial form to help organisations, especially Small, Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), to better understand such technical documents. 

“We develop standards including pictorial standards that are easily appreciated and applied,” he said. 

He explained that “Standards are technical documents hence not easily understood, we therefore convert or  present the standards into pictures which can easily be understood,” Mr Amoako said. 

He said the GSA was especially committed to the advancement of the SME sector and had put in place measures to help them get their products to meet both the Ghana and international standards  

“Apart from helping them make their goods meet both national and international standards through certification we  also support them with discounted rates of fees and provide laboratory support services through testing to many of them who do not and cannot afford setting labs of their own,” Mr Amoako said.