The Guyana National Bureau of Standards Act (the Guyana Act) was first enacted in 1984; substantive amendments were passed by Parliament in 1997 with several new sections being inserted. The provisions of the Guyana Act are in many ways similar to the provisions contained in the Sri Lanka Standards Institute Act of 1984 and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Act of 1984. These two Acts remain in force with efforts being undertaken to improve the national policy infrastructure; this is seen particularly in the case of Uganda. The soundness of the legislative framework can be seen by the fact that many of the provisions in the Guyana Act are also repeated in the Tanzania Standards Act of 2009. With this historical legal drafting antecedence it can be positively asserted that the Guyana Act exists on a sound legislative foundation.
In the context of a national review of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), it was observed by Dr. Camella Rhone, that there have been developments at the international and regional level which have necessitated amendments to the Guyana Act. The suggestion is that GNBS can meet its current statutory mandate, however requires expressed legislative support to address with certainty the developments which have occurred regionally and internationally. The approach adopted to the Guyana Act is therefore by way of Amendment of certain provisions, as opposed to substantive repeal which has been suggested in the case of the Weights and Measures Act.
