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PROGRAMMES FOR ECONOMIC competitiveness
Building and training human resources to cope with the growing need for product compliance As producers further integrate into global markets, they must comply with an ever-expanding range of standards. To help them, UNIDO has built up its Standards, Metrology, Testing and Quality (SMTQ) training services to support national quality infrastructure institutions and provide continuous training and human resources upgrading. One such institution is the UNIDO-VIMTA South-South Training Facility for Testing Laboratories (UVSSTF) in Hyderabad, India. VIMTA Labs Limited is India’s leading contract research and testing organization. It organizes training courses for young professionals from testing laboratories on a wide range of essential skills, including analysis of contaminants, residues and adulteration, quality assurance, control measures, standards compliance, accreditation and laboratory management. In the Republic of Korea, UNIDO has partnered with the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) to organize training programmes for the technical staff of national metrology institutions and their calibration
laboratories. The programme was designed to upgrade theoretical knowledge and technical capacities in laboratory accreditation and laboratory management knowledge. Another example is the UNIDO-China Food Quality, Safety, and Testing Training Facility in Dali, which focuses on improving food safety and quality for China and ASEAN countries, with a focus on milk and milk product quality. The facility is recognized as a regional knowledge centre and a key milktesting centre. With technological advances in manufacturing and in food processing announced almost daily, international product standards , including private standards, need constant revision and expansion. This means that national quality infrastructure institutions in developing countries must strive to constantly upgrade their human resource skills, which points to a growing need for UNIDO’s SMTQ training partnerships. For more information, contact: TCB@unido.org
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