Cabinet approves draft of National Standard (Goods and Services) Policy 2015

The Cabinet has approved the draft of the National Standard (Goods and Services) Policy 2015 to ensure better quality control.

The nod was given at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Secretariat on Monday.

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said the policy was formulated to upgrade BSTI and the Bangladesh Accreditation Board to international standards.

It was drafted as per the guidelines of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with financial support from NORAD and the European Union, the cabinet secretary said.

“Various issues like what will be the standard of our export products and who will regulate it are mentioned in detail in the policy,” Shafiul Alam said.

“In the service sector, the policy tried to address issues like who will look into the accreditation process when our professionals like accountants, doctors or engineers go to foreign countries.”

In reply to a query, he said both goods and services were included in the policy.

“All kind of products, including hardware, software, digital ware etc are included. The accreditation is for the purpose of export and regulation,” he added.

“The policy has also defined how our organisations will regulate quality. It has also empowered the committee to take action against violators. There are provisions to impose a fine of maximum Tk 100,000,” he added.