The Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS) has awarded the Dominica Coconut Product (DCP) Successors Ltd with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. DCP is the first manufacturing company in Dominica to receive the certification, an award which will enable it to market its products to CARICOM and throughout the Caribbean.
Director of DBOS, Median LaRocque, said the event will motivate the entire manufacturing community in Dominica to tighten their belts and aspire for excellence. He said agro-processing activities and local manufacturing are esssential for economic growths, and that he is honoured to award the GMP certification to DCP at their Jimmit office.
Today, we can boast of a number of prominent local entrepreneurs engaged in the production of quality and competitive goods and products. We honour one of those companies by awarding them certification for successfully implementing the international standard ISOIC 22716 for good manufacturing practices or GMP in cosmetics.
Dr. Median LaRocque, Director of DBOS
LaRocque cited some of the benefits of having the GMP certification, saying it opens the awardee to international markets and corporate efficiencies. According to him, the some of the advantages of the certification include –
- Improved management skills
- Improved efficiency and productivity
- Advanced marketing potentials
- Reduction in the frequency and cost of inspection by importing countries
- Increment in the earnings of producers
- Facilitation of trade competitiveness
- Increased problem-findings and solution-findings
- Reduction of non-conformity products, services and processes
- Improved supplier and employee relationships
- Employees motivation to better serve customer needs
- Improved customer communication and satisfaction
DBOS’ technical officer for quality, Heinrich Anselm, said DCP was passed all tests in the areas of personnel, equipment, raw materials and packaging, production, finished products, quality control laboratory, treatment of products that are out of specification, waste management, subcontracting, deviations, complaints and recalls, change controls, internal auditing, as well as documentation before the certification was awarded.
DCP general manager, Damien Sorhaindo, thanked the management and staff of his company for achieving the GMP certification, and promised to do more to defend the integrity of the certification. DCP quality manager, Sherma Desire-George, said her company worked hard to achieve the GMP certification and urged other local manufacturers to strive towards achieving the same. DCP director, Yvor Nassief, also credited his company for the feat, and added that the award will enable DCP to spread its marketing tentacles.
The domestic market is too small for DCP. There are times when we have soaps we have no orders because the market is small. So we wanted to break into the Dominican Republic, which is a huge market twice the size of CARICOM. But we have not been able to do so without the GMP certification. We have that now. So we’ve been working on translating our labels and doing all the other stuff they require.
Yvor Nassief, DCP director
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