SLAQ supports restructuring of SLS Mark

The priorities of the SLSI appear to have taken a different turn with a formulation standards which is the core function of SLSI and also basic requirement for effective promotion of SLS marks being somewhat ignored.

By Dr. Srilal de Silva, President Sri Lanka Association of Quality (SLAQ) and former Deputy Director General of SLSI

The SLS Mark scheme is the only government sponsored scheme to ensure consumer safety, and is one of the core functions of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI). The support services for operating the mark include effective programmes to prepare national standards and also testing services to support this scheme. These support services, which are the exclusive responsibility of SLSI, and the SLS Mark, are the core functions of the Institution and as such needs efficient management to support a national commitment from this organization.

The priorities of the SLSI appear to have taken a different turn with a formulation standards which is the core function of SLSI and also basic requirement for effective promotion of SLS marks being somewhat ignored. The focus on standards formulation is now losing direction as the number of standards issued hardly justifies the number of staff engaged in this activities. Also the usefulness of the standards issued are also questionable and only a small percentage is used for major programmes such as the SLS Mark and also by other agencies.

The testing facilities of SLSI in most instances are not used for testing other samples and not available for samples under the SLS scheme.Often services of other laboratories are used at a high cost. The foreign funds are channelled to develop testing facilities to be used for national programs such as the SLS Mark which has a direct impact on serving the public.

Now over 500 products are covered by this mark and the main feature of this scheme is to encourage the consumers to look for SLS Mark products as the quality of these products are guaranteed by an independent third party as meeting the requirements of the Sri Lanka Standards.

In the early 1990’s there was a very poor demand for the mark from the industry due to lack of consumer response. In this situation SLS mark was made mandatory for many products such as building materials and food products, which is associated with the safety of the consumer. This trend is still continuing with the recent requirement of the SLS Mark for bottled water.

Internal auditing was introduced to ensure the compliance of the operation in granting the mark requires effective implementation to avoid any deviations from the approved procedures. Even though arrangements were made to upgrade the system for receiving accreditation this was not encouraged.

Whilst industries proudly advertise the SLS Mark to market the products it will be interesting to know what percentage of the customers look for SLS Mark products. In some instances the SLS marks really does not demonstrate quality and misleads the consumer. Considering the possible damage it is vital that some remedial action be taken immediately. In the absence of independent surveys on the consumer acceptability it will be difficult to give actual figures to support the situation. It will be useful for an independent agency such as SLAQ to undertake such a survey and publish results periodically so that this will add credibility for the scheme. SLSI should actively support such an independent survey by an independent professional body which has established a reputation in the field of quality management.