Your safety matters – Consumers urged to get familiar with new electrical standards
DPI, Guyana, Friday, October 11, 2019
Consumers are being urged to get acquainted with the 31 new electrical standards recently developed by Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS). This call was issued by Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Hon. Jaipaul Sharma during a press conference; aimed to raise awareness of the new standards which will be enforced from February 1, 2020.
Minister Sharma noted that before 2017, there was just one electrical standard which applied to decorative lights during the periods of Diwali and Christmas. He urged persons to invest in quality equipment that meets the approved electrical standards as the government seeks to implement the best practices for the benefit of all Guyanese.
Deputy Executive Director (ag) of the GNBS, Shailendra Rai advised that if consumers purchase a product that is found to be defective, they must provide feedback to the GNBS so that appropriate actions can be taken. “We are publishing the list of registered dealers and importers so you can be guided by that. I would like to encourage that consumers go on the website, look for the persons registered with the GNBS and purchase from them.”
Rai further added that “consumers play a very important role in this process. The regulatory bodies have their role and their mandate, but consumers play a very important role in society and we as consumers need to ensure that we educate ourselves to know what are the good things and what are not the good things and we need to make informed choices as well.”
According to Rai, all products will be examined by GNBS at the time of importation. He added that surveillance inspections will be carried out at sale outlets to ensure products on sale comply with the standards laid out.
Director of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission, Dawn Cush emphasised that the safety of consumers is paramount, as
strict actions will be taken against suppliers who fail to meet the required standards. “If we receive a complaint after February 2020, we will carry out our normal investigations to see what the issue is with it. If it is that the equipment is not within the standards developed by the Bureau and passed by the Cabinet, we would then do intelligence sharing with the Bureau… Our greatest concern is the safety of consumers and we will continue to do what we have to do. We will have more advocacy so that people know their rights and suppliers, in particular, adhere to the law,” Cush stated.