Annual report 2013 - Mauritius Standards Bureau

| |Table of Contents | |
| | |Page |
|Table of contents |i - ii |
| |OVERVIEW |1 |
| |Introduction |2 |
| |Report from the Acting Director |2 |
| |CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REPORT |4 |
| |Corporate Governance |4 |
| |Legislation |4 |
| |Standards Council |4 |
| |Mandate of the Mauritius Standards Bureau |5 |
| |Vision Mission Statement and Quality Policy |5 |
| |Vision |5 |
| |Mission Statement |5 |
| |Quality Policy |5 |
| |Composition of the Standards Council |6 |
| |Attendance |7 |
| |Standards Council Committees |7 |
| |The Finance Committee | 8 |
| |The Human Resource Committee |8 |
| |The Corporate Governance and Risk Management |8 |
| |Committee | |
| |Audit and Compliance Committee |9 |
| |Standards Council Members' Remuneration |9 |
| |Procurement of goods and services |10 |
| |Donation |10 |
| |Code of Ethics |10 |
| |Related Party Transaction |10 |
| |STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS OF THE |11 |
| |STANDARDS COUNCIL OF MAURITIUS STANDARDS BUREAU | |
| |Risk Management |11 |
| |Governance |11 |
| |STATEMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE STANDARDS COUNCIL OF MSB|12 |
| |ON INTERNAL CONTROL | | | |Table of Contents |Page |
| |OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES |13 - 20 |
| |Standards Development Unit |14 - 15 |
| |Standardization work |14 |
| |Promotion of Standards |15 |
| |World Standards Day 2013 |15 |
| |Quality Assurance Unit |16 - 17 |
| |Mauricert |16 |
| |Accreditation of Management Systems |16 |
| |National Management Systems Certification Scheme |16 |
| |Training courses |17 |
| |Documentation and Information Centre |18 |
| |Technical Information Services |18 |
| |Metrology Unit |19 -20 |
| |National Measurement Standard |19 |
| |Regional and International Affiliations and Status |19 |
| |Calibration Services |20 |
| |LABORATORY TESTING SERVICES |21 - 28 |
| |Chemical Technology Laboratory |22 |
| |Food Microbiology Laboratory |23 |
| |Food and Agriculture Laboratory |24 |
| |Fibre Technology Laboratory |25 |
| |Civil Engineering Laboratory |26 |
| |Electrical and Electronics Engineering Laboratory |27 |
| |Mechanical Engineering Laboratory and Non |28 |
| |Destructive Testing Laboratory (NDT) |29 |
| | | |
| |Financial Statements 2013 |30 - 65 | OVERVIEW |Introduction |
|The Mauritian economy is steadily opening itself to international |
|competition bringing in its wake new opportunities and challenges. |
|Many economic sectors are under close scrutiny to re-engineer their |
|competitiveness through quality improvements with a view to unlocking |
|new overseas markets as well as establishing their position on the |
|domestic market. It is widely recognized that one of the underpinnings|
|favouring international competitiveness and international trade is a |
|reliable and traceable measurement system, an accredited conformity |
|assessment structure, a transparent and consensual standardization |
|infrastructure and a widely recognized accreditation system. These are|
|the four pillars of what is commonly termed as the Mauritian Quality |
|Infrastructure. The Mauritius Standards Bureau is an integral part of |
|the Mauritian Quality Infrastructure. |
|The Mauritius Standards Bureau is a parastatal body operating under the|
|aegis of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection. |
|It was created in 1975 with the mandate to develop national standards |
|and provide conformity assessment services. The Bureau became a |
|corporate body under the Mauritius Standards Bureau Act 1993 with |
|decision making authority vested upon a Board namely the Standards |
|Council. The Bureau is now organized into five separate and distinct |
|technical units namely the Standards Development Unit for the |
|elaboration of standards, the Engineering Unit and the Chemical Unit |
|for the testing of products, the Quality Assurance Unit for product and|
|management systems certification and the Metrology Unit for the |
|calibration of equipment in industry and for the custody of national |
|measurement standards. In addition the Business Development Unit, the |
|Standards Information Centre, the Finance Division, the Human Resource |
|Division and the Administrative Division were restructured to provide |
|support to the technical units. |
|Today, the Mauritius Standards Bureau can boast of having a traceable |
|and scientifically based comprehensive measurement system, an efficient|
|and effective standards development process to develop standards and a |
|modern conformity assessment structure which provides confidence to the|
|stakeholders and the public in general that the certified and tested |
|goods and services meet customers' and regulatory requirements. |
|Report from the Acting Director |
|The Mauritius Standards Bureau generated a revenue of Rs 33.6 million |
|from its operations in 2013 as compared to Rs 27.3 million in 2012, |
|which is an increase of 23 per cent. These financial results were |
|achieved despite a year of significant challenges and hardships. |
| |
|The Bureau met and exceeded its financial target set for the year 2013.|
|Furthermore, the Bureau reliance as budgetary resources from the |
|Government declined significantly, a trend that is likely to improve in|
|the coming year. This is a significant achievement for the |
|organization given the competitive business environment. |
| |
|The Mauritius Standards Bureau maintained its efforts to provide high |
|quality and internationally recognized testing/calibration and |
|certification services to meet the demands of its clients. To this |
|end, accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 for eighty scope sectors was |
|renewed by the local accreditation body. The Bureau has also |
|maintained its accreditation status as a certification body for |
|auditing and certifying organizations to ISO 9001, |
|ISO/IEC 27001 and HACCP. Our accredited and high-value services boost |
|the confidence of our customers. |
| |
|Accreditation of MSB laboratories to ISO/IEC 17021 and the |
|Certification Unit of MSB to ISO/IEC 17025 boost the confidence of our |
|customers in our conformity assessment certificates. |
|During the year under review, the Bureau pursued its efforts to develop|
|its capabilities and capacities to provide new services to its |
|customers and to respond effectively to its stakeholders' demands. |
|Consequently, the Bureau launched a Global GAP Certification support |
|programme to assist Mauritian exporters of agricultural and |
|horticultural products. Global Gap Certification is increasing |
|becoming a commercial buyers' requirements in Europe and other export |
|markets. The Mauritius Standards Bureau initiated a capacity building|
|project for certifying Mauritian agricultural and horticultural |
|products to Global Gap. This project is slated to roll out in 2014. |
| |
|During the year, the Bureau also embarked on the setting up a |
|third-