The Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards (ABBS) is the agency authorized by law (The Standards Act) to  establish and maintain the national quality infrastructure (NQI – standards, testing, metrology – measurement services, certification and accreditation) in Antigua and Barbuda.

The services provided under the ambit of the NQI are aimed at ensuring and protecting the health and safety of the consumer and the environment, and promoting fair trading practices, in the production, import and export of goods and services.

The Bureau of Standards is also seeking to expand its scope of operation to establish more information services, as well as services related to Metrology (the science of measurement).

The general public is therefore invited to visit or contact the Bureau to source further information on work in progress and to offer advice and suggestions on areas that may be considered for standards development or standards related initiatives.

History

Dr. Hayden Thomas, former Chief Government Chemist in the Ministry of Agriculture, with the cooperation of the policy makers of the day sought to bring Antigua and Barbuda on stream with the changing global and regional trends in economic co-operation, by drafting a proposal for the setting-up of the Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards. The Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards was therefore started as a desk in the Ministry of Agriculture in the late 1980s.

World trade and globalization necessitates that all producers and consumers be aware of their rights to health and safety and protection of the environment, in the production and consumption of various goods and services, regardless of the places of origin. Standards bodies and standards related organizations in some ways play the role of mediator and judge to ensure that producers and consumers have sound platforms to execute their various roles in the circle of economic life on the planet.

Vision