The Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) is a regulatory agency under the Ministry of Agriculture; responsible for regulating chemical management in Guyana to safeguard human health and the environment. Protecting stakeholders in manufacturing, importation, sales, storage, use, transportation, and distribution of chemicals, the organisation strives to consistently provide quality services.
The organisation has a total of 147 staff who are tasked with ensuring that all activities involving pesticides and toxic chemicals align with national safety standards and regulations. It operates a well-equipped laboratory providing essential testing services to verify the safety, quality, and regulatory compliance of agricultural and chemical products, benefiting farmers, manufacturers, regulators, and consumers.
To guarantee efficiency in its operations, the PTCCB consistently partners with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) to access training for its employees on key standards and programmes. Some of the trainings provided by the GNBS include Laboratory Safety, Root Cause Analysis, Data Analysis, Risk-Based Thinking & Risk Management, Internal Auditing and Measurement Uncertainty & Validation.
The programmes offered by the GNBS help private and public organisations strengthen their capacity to uphold the best international practices within their operations.
PTCCB employees also underwent training on the International Standard ISO 17025:2017 – “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.” Its Laboratory Director, Ms. Reshmi Bissessar noted, “these trainings, especially on the ISO/IEC 17025 standard, have significantly improved our laboratory operations by enhancing staff knowledge of the requirements and implementation.”
“This ensures the PTCCB continues to provide trusted, high-quality services to the public. Additionally, training in risk management and internal auditing has strengthened our ability to proactively address challenges and maintain efficiency,” she said.
The PTCCB mainly supports Farmers and agricultural workers, Pest control operators, Importers and distributors of chemicals, manufacturers, transporters of chemicals, Government agencies and operators in the mining and oil and gas industries.
Ms. Bissessar said the implementation of standards is important to ensure compliance with customer and regulatory requirements, improve operational efficiency, enhance reputation and credibility, and build public trust through better services offered.
She lauded GNBS training services. “Our team found the training sessions engaging and well-structured, with a balance of theory and practical exercises that facilitated better understanding and application of the concepts,” she said.
Further, the Laboratory Director noted that the GNBS continuously demonstrates “professionalism and in-depth knowledge,” ensuring that the training sessions are impactful and beneficial to the participants.
As such, she recommends that other organisations take advantage of the training programmes to not only add value to their operations but to boost clients’ confidence.
“GNBS offers that foundation and guidance in bettering a company, thus, we highly recommend these trainings to any entity looking to enhance compliance, efficiency, and service quality,” she stated.
Throughout the year, GNBS offers trainings with some repeating courses for interested applicants. Beyond the programmes highlighted in this article, there are others focusing on Food safety, Statistical Process Control, Process Mapping, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, GYS 170 – Requirements for operations of a laboratory and ISO 22000 among others. For more information, call GNBS on 219-0064-66 or Whatsapp 692-4627 or visit www.gnbsgy.org.
