Updates

Burundi Inter-laboratory Network

14 February 2023
ITC News

Burundi is endowed with several quality infrastructure institutions among other public and private laboratories each one with specific objectives.

However, the quality of services needs improvement.

During the four years of technical assistance by EU funded EU-EAC MARKUP project, gap and needs assessments were carried out, and coherent areas of support were designed.

While elaborating the national quality policy, reviewing, and assessing the institutional and legal framework including governance and roles and responsibilities of key institutions constituting the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI), and developing a directory of NQI services in Burundi, the need to have better synergy and cooperation among the testing laboratories was identified.

In November 2022, ITC and the Burundi Bureau of Standardization and Quality Control (BBN) jointly organized a retreat of experts and analysts from the various laboratories of Burundi to set up a mechanism that would lead to an Inter-laboratory network.

The Inter-Laboratory Network, should among many others fulfill the following missions: (i) make proposals of analytical solutions adapted to customer requirements:

 (ii) guarantee the skills of the technicians of the laboratories

(iii) coordinate necessary logistics of laboratories to meet the demand of industry

(iv) ensure compliances of analysis or testing

(v) organize intercomparison tests

(vi) Standardize and adopt methods of analysis and technical testing by product

(vii) multiply circular analyses between laboratories in order to formalize the methods of analysis

(viii) promote accreditation and quality assurance system in the network's laboratories

(ix) foster complementarity between laboratories for a rationale, optimal and efficient use of resources.