Senior Officials of Respective Government Agencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Bula Vinaka and a Very Good Morning to you All
It is a pleasure to be here today to open the Regulators’ Workshop by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport. It has been quite a journey so I thank you all for your participation.
This Workshop is specifically targeted to all regulatory agencies – so each of you are here today for a very important reason.
Regulatory agencies play a critical role in the standardisation process, especially now as the Ministry leads the is review and modernisation of the legislation dealing with standardisation.
From the review consultations, we found that to have an effective legislation for standards setting – to ensure consumer protection – to have experts as regulators – certain roles in the current Trade Standards and Quality Control Act need to be moved to relevant agencies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What are standards you may ask?
When there is a standards setting body, why are regulators important?
Let me start with a very simple example, when you wake up in the morning, you check your watch or your alarm clock. How do you know it is giving you the right time? When you go to the supermarket and buy a kilogramme of sugar, how can you be sure it is the right weight?
You are able to determine the correctness of the time and weight, only because the watch/alarm clock and the scale comply with set benchmarks. These benchmarks are referred to as standards.
In technical terms, a standard is a technical document designed to be used as a guideline or definition. Standards are a repeatable way of doing something.
The unique part of setting standards is that it is set by a cross-sectional group of stakeholders, comprising of private sector, public sector, consumer representative and civil society.
At this point, I wish to clearly state that standards in itself are not laws.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This brings us to the question of the role of a standard setting body, or in our case, the Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards.
A standards setting body, does exactly what the name suggests, it sets standards for all goods and services. As a standards developer, according to global best practices, the Department should not be the agency enforcing the standard. The Department is the National Standards Body of Fiji and its main responsibility is to create Fijian Standards to support economic, policy and regulatory objectives.
For example, in Australia standards for electrical appliances are set by Standards Australia. The enforcement is done by Australia Competition and Consumer Commission or the state or territory Department of Fair Trading.
In Fiji’s context, one of the most successful partnerships we have forged is between the Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards and the Department of Energy. The Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards set the Minimum Labelling and Performance Standards for refrigerators, whilst Department of Energy regulates. This partnership has worked well in the effective implementation of the standard. The Department of Energy has the technical expertise, the knowhow and most importantly, the relevant responsibility.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, you will discuss and learn how standards can be used to assist your agency in undertaking its regulatory responsibilities.
I want to emphasise that Regulation is a key responsibility for all Governments. Your role is critical to ensure that every Fijian has access to quality goods and services, whether they are made in Fiji, or imported.
Where goods and services do not meet quality requirements, it is your duty to ensure they are not sold within the marketplace. So, it is upon you to protect your fellow citizens from the potential harm they may cause.
Simply said, to make standards work for Fiji, we need a collective approach – a Whole-of-Government effort. We need all agencies to play their respective roles to ensure that consumers are protected and there is a level field for competition for the private sector.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Ministry has completed the consultations of the review of the Trade Standards and Quality Control Act. I believe a number of you have been part of the consultations. This workshop is in fact a result of the one-on-one sessions.
Today’s workshop aims to take stock of your regulatory roles and functions. And how these can complement the potential regulators role that your agency may hold in the future. We will together identify the skills requirements and the capacity gaps that may need to be filled.
In your roles as regulators, you may become Inspectors – these are roles of trained and professionally skilled officials. You must ensure integrity, consistency and transparency in the carrying out your roles and responsibilities. The Ministry will ensure that you get ongoing substantial training focusing on standardisation process skills and other relevant areas of regulatory practice.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I hope that today’s discussions will not only, help everyone in identifying their role as regulators, but serve as a reminder on exactly how standards can assist you in carrying out your regulatory responsibilities.
I want to re-emphasise that standards represent consensus on a solution to a particular issue. Therefore, standards implementation requires collaboration and agencies working together. In this regard, I look forward to all the regulators present here today and those attending the session tomorrow, to work closely with the Ministry to pave the way forward for standardisation in Fiji.
Today’s session is another important milestone in our journey to achieve this important goal, and will be part of a series of regular communications between the Ministry and yourselves. In return, I encourage you to engage with the Department on a regular basis to ensure that we have a suite of Fijian Standards that is relevant and effective to support the achievement of economic, policy and regulatory objectives in Fiji.
With those words, it gives me great pleasure to open the Regulator’s Workshop on the review of the Trade Standards and Quality Control Act this morning. Have a productive day.
Vinaka vakalevu.