The Seychelles Bureau of Standards (SBS) was established as a government regulatory agency with the enactment of the SBS Act 1987. It is an executive arm of the Ministry of National Development and it is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Minister. It is headed by a Chief Executive Officer in whom the executive responsibilities for the discharge of the functions of the Bureau are vested.

The core activities of SBS are: Standardization, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing.

In Dec 1996, the SBS attained certification status to ISO 9002 quality management system which helped to put the organisation on the forefront of quality in the Seychelles. This indeed is in line with its quality activities in order to achieve its mission and strategic objectives outlined below.

This certification status was changed to ISO 9001:2000 in October 2002 when the standard was revised.

The vision of SBS is to achieve excellence in the provision of Standarization and Quality Assurance services,so that by 2009 it will have obtained accreditation status for the system certification and laboratory testing services.

SBS is responsible to the Ministry having the portfolio for Science and Technology. SBS principal mission is to provide national and international capabilities to Seychelles in the areas of Standardization, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing with the aim of enhancing the country's development and to create a solid base upon which enterprises can rely upon for technological and scientific assistance.

The Seychelles Bureau of Standards has the principal strategic objective of providing the country with standardisation, technological and scientific expertise, facilities and support in the areas of :

Quality Assurance Services
Standardization Services
Testing Services

The Seychelles Bureau of Standards as the National Standards Body, commits itself to the development, implementation and continual improvement of its Quality Management System with the aim of consistently providing high quality service to meet the changing needs and expectations of its customers.

The function of SBS are laid out in the SBS Act 1987, SBS Amendment) Act 1995, SBS Amendment) Act 1997, Weights and measures Act / Regulations, SBS Standard Mark Regulations and SBS (National Quality System Certification Scheme) Regulations. These functions are summarized below:

To develop, declare and promote Seychelles Standards for products, processes and practices that are needed for use in all sectors of the economy and also for the protection of the environment;
To develop capabilities and maintain facilities for the provision of inspection and testing services for determining conformance to standards and regulatory requirements;
To provide for the use of the SBS Mark;
To maintain national physical standards which are necessary to provide traceability in measurement;
To provide scientific and industrial metrology services for the calibration of instruments to ensure accuracy in measurement;
To provide legal metrology services for the inspection, verification and approval of weighing ad measuring instruments that are used in trade and commerce;
To provide system certification services;
To prepare, implement and execute programmes in the areas of industry, science and technology;
To maintain a national information centre in matters of standardization, industry, science and technology;
To maintain a system for approval and coordination of scientific research carried out in Seychelles.

The Seychelles Bureau of Standards consists of two sections directly under the CEO's Secretariat and three main operational divisions as follows:

Finance & Support Services Section
HR & Administration Services Section
Standardization and Information Services Division
Biochemical Testing Services Division
Engineering and Metrology Services Division

The Finance & Support Services Section is made up of 3 units

Finance Unit
Purchasing and Transport Unit
Information System Unit

This unit is responsible for the proper management of the financial activities of SBS as per the government accounting procedures. It monitors the proper control of expenditures for the various accounting cost centers to ensure efficient and effective use of SBS Funds.

This section is also responsible for ensuring the timely collection of revenue.

This unit is responsible for the purchasing and transport services for continual improvement in operation and service delivery. It ensures that:

Resources required for the effective delivery of the SBS services are purchased in a timely manner;

The fleet of transport is properly managed and maintained. -

Information System Unit

This unit is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the information system of SBS to ensure that the Information needs of the whole organization are taken into consideration and are delivered. It is also responsible for the maintenance of all computer software and hardware within the organization and the filing system

This section is responsible for the administration and personnel matters of the Bureau ensuring that the requirements of the Parastatal Orders and other circulars from the Department of Public Administration are understood and adhered to. This section is also responsible for the development and implementation of the human resource development plan of SBS and productivity improvement scheme.

Standardization and Information Services Division

The Standardization and Information Services Division consists of 3 sections:

Standardization Services

The Standardization section is responsible for the development and declaration of Seychelles Standards for use by all sectors of the economy and to promote the use of these standards in the manufacturing and service sectors and follow-up on their implementation. Along with these, some of other activities that are undertaken are:

To carry out standard need analysis for various sectors of the economy
To ensure that standard development programme is in line with ISO/IEC directives
Adopt international and regional standards as Seychelles Standards

Certification Services

This section is responsible for the operation of two Certification schemes:

The Product Certification scheme - SBS Mark
The National Quality System Certification (NQCS)- SSISO9001:2000

SBS Mark is the product certification that conveys the assurance that a product complies with the requirement of a Seychelles Standard or set criteria agreed by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards. It is intended for use in relation with product, process, service and practices that have been produced under a system of supervision, control and test devised and supervised by SBS and operated by the producer in accordance with the Certification Mark Scheme of the Seychelles Bureau of Standards. The National Quality System Certification Scheme (NQCS) is a third party certification scheme operated by the Seychelles Bureau of standards since 2002. Under this scheme certificates of registration are granted to companies where their quality management system is found to comply with the requirement of SS ISO 9001:2000. The standards were adopted by the Seychelles Bureau of Standard in July 2002 as a Seychelles Standard for use as a basic rule in the establishment and maintenance of quality management systems in local companies and organizations. They address the requirements from concepts of product/service to delivery and post delivery and provide guidelines for performance improvement on a continual basis.

CISTID

CISTID is the national documentation centre for the acquisition, storage, retrieval and dissemination of Seychelles, foreign and international standard, scientific and technological information. The centre holds collection of standards published by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards, the British Standard Institution (BSI), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), CODEX, and International Electrochemical Commission (IEC). CISTID also holds a collection of books, research articles and periodicals.

To facilitate information storage and retrieval, the library has embarked on a programme for the computerization of its services using the WIN-ISSIS software. There are databases for all books, reports and monographic series, periodicals, catalogue, directories of which some are already online. CISTID provides consultancy and training for the setting up of computerized library systems.

Biochemical Testing Services

This division is responsible for the implementation of the biochemical testing programme. It consists of five laboratories offering a wide range of testing services for different parameters in various products. Analysts work with due diligence and with sophisticated equipment to achieve precision and confidence in their measurements. BTS laboratories are designated as the Official Testing Laboratory for testing of fish and fish products by the Competent Authority- Veterinary Services. The Department of Environment of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Transport has designated the Environment Laboratory as the Official Testing Laboratory for testing environment samples. The designation of the laboratory is as per the activities performed in each laboratory and these are listed below:

Environmental Laboratory
Food Chemistry Laboratory
Microbiology Laboratory
Chemical Analysis Laboratory
Instrument Analysis Laboratory

The Engineering and Metrology Services

The Engineering and Metrology Services (EMS) of SBS offer different types of conformity assessment services from testing of construction materials to verification of length measures, weights and weighing instruments like scales and weigh bridges, verification of fuel dispensing pumps and testing of gas cylinders. EMS comprises of four different functional sections: Construction Material Laboratory, National Metrology Laboratory, Legal Metrology and Electromechanical Services

Construction Material Laboratory
National Metrology Laboratory
Legal Metrology
Electromechanical Services

Construction Material Laboratory

The Construction Material Laboratory (CML) operates mainly in the fields of civil engineering. The objective of CML is to test building/construction materials and civil engineering work for strength before they are used for construction and to ensure that these materials meet the relevant standards. For example, the Seychelles Standards SS 9: Standard specification for concrete blocks has been made a mandatory standard. A range of testing services are offered by CML including the test for soil classification and compaction, concrete and cement tests etc., which are designed to minimize building defects and contribute towards the satisfactory performance of buildings.

National Metrology Laboratory:

The National Metrology Laboratory (NML) of SBS operates mainly in the field of industrial metrology. It is the custodian of the Seychelles National Reference Standards of mass, length, temperature, volume pressure and others which are traceable to higher international Standards. NML provides mainly the calibration and testing services to the industry and the general public for various types of measuring instruments and the electrical equipment such as for both automatic and non automatic balances, weights and thermometers, pressure gauges and other devices. The calibration services available in the NML include those for:

Temperature
Balance
Mass
Pressure
Length
Electrical Measurements.

In the trade and commerce sector, it is required by law and regulations that measuring instruments used are accurate and are within their maximum permissible errors, in order to ensure this users have to get the instruments inspected and calibrated in the NML and get the calibration certificates.

Legal Metrology Unit

The Legal Metrology Unit (LMU) of SBS has the mission of enforcing the Weights & Measures Act and Regulations of Seychelles within the industry, trade and commerce sectors. This is of prime importance so as to prevent barriers to trade both locally and internationally. The activities of LMU include:

Verification of weights, weighing and measuring instruments.
Verification of scales.
Verification of fuel dispensing pumps.
Verification of weigh bridges.
Verification of length measures.
Inspection of pre-packaged commodities.

Electro Mechanic

The Gas Cylinder Testing Centre (GCTC) of SBS works with the mission of providing testing services for ensuring safe use of refillable gas cylinders in the country. GCTC monitors and ensures conformance to the mandatory standard SS 11:1991, Rev.2:2005; Standard Specification for periodic inspection and testing of refillable gas cylinders. Quality visual inspection and pressure tests are conducted on gas cylinders to ensure they are safe for use. GCTC monitors different types of gas cylinders such as oxygen gas cylinders for divers and LPG (cooking gas) cylinders.