KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) and the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority, both agencies of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, have developed three standards for the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry sector.

The standards are the JS 41:2014 Inspection, retesting and use of transportable gas; JS 31:2014, the repair and rebuilding of welded steel cylinders for containing liquefied petroleum gases and, the JS 25:2010 transportable gas containers.

The ministry said the standards were developed in an effort to ensure the health and safety of the consuming public and ensuring that all key stakeholders in the liquefied petroleum gas industry are aware of the requirements for compliance with the relevant standards.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Awareness and Engagement Session for the LPG Monitoring Programme at the BSJ Multi-Purpose Facility in Kingston yesterday, Chief Technical Director in the ministry, Monique Gibbs, said that “to ensure a safe and effective LPG industry for the domestic sector and the protection of consumers, it is imperative that the established regulations, codes and standards be enforced or additional programmes be established to improve the operations of filling plants”.

“Codes and standards must be in place to protect not only our consumers, but also the reputation of the marketing companies and our distributors. Meeting standards in this industry is not optional.  The adherence to standards will certainly make our companies, industries and our economies more competitive. The impact of standards is very real,” Gibbs added.

Gibbs said the Government has always had an interest in the quality of goods and services from the perspective of safety, health, deceptive practices and the environment.

She noted that the role of government is to promulgate and enforce laws and regulations focused on the protection of human, health and the environment, while creating and enabling business environment.

Pointing out that approximately 86 per cent of households utilise LPG for cooking with 92.8 per cent of urban dwellers and 78.6 per cent of households in the rural areas doing so, Gibbs said that the LPG sector is an important and vital source of energy for cooking purpose in the domestic sector of Jamaica.

The ministry said the next awareness session will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on November 27.