BY GEORGINA MICHAEL
The National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology (NISIT) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the PNG Customs Services.
The MoU aims to:
- Prevent the importation of substandard and counterfeit products;
- Protect consumers and businesses:
- Streamline border inspection processes and support trade facilitation;
- Enhance market confidence through compliance with national and international standards; and
- Promote technical cooperation and capacity building in quality assurance and conformity assessment.
The MoU was signed by the PNG Customs Services Chief Commissioner, David Towe, and the Acting Director General for NISIT, Joe Panga.
Mr Towe said: “We have signed agreements with others agencies however, recently we thought NISIT is an important partner to work with. We wanted to partner with NISIT for it to help us with our standards in terms of certification, accreditation and the different types of licenses that we offer.
“I believe this partnership between Customs and NICIT will be strategic in us improving compliance and enforcing our regulatory arrangements. Recently we have had issues with none compliance and so it was only best for us to engage with NISIT knowing you have different standards that customs can possibly incorporate it into its laws to be able to use those.”
Mr Panga said: “To partner with such a big government department that plays a crucial role for the welfare of every Papua New Guinean is surely a big step for us and we appreciate the role that you play.
“This MoU marks the start of greater things. We plan to support customs in everything you do and I am happy you mentioned everything on accessible goods, your position on noncompliance, and IPR matters. We want to be another active partner to strengthen where customers need assistance to ensure that the products are properly checked and to make sure that they meet our expectations right.
“And so setting standard is part of that ambition to protect our people. So if we do it right during the standardization process, then the enforcement becomes easier. For us, it’s important to bring customs not only into the operational side of things, but into the very beginning of setting those requirements and standards needed.”
The signing of the MoU marked a significant step toward strengthening cooperation between NISIT and PNG Customs in ensuring the quality, safety, and compliance of goods traded across PNG’s borders.