Vanuatu Bureau of Standards Launches Official Website to Strengthen Export Compliance, Transparency, and National Quality Infrastructure

The Vanuatu Bureau of Standards (VBS) has officially launched its new website, www.vbs.gov.vu, marking a significant milestone in strengthening the country’s national quality infrastructure, improving export compliance, and promoting standards across all sectors of production and trade.

The platform reinforces VBS’s mission to ensure that all products — from farms and packhouses to export markets — meet the highest international standards of safety, quality, and conformity. It also enhances public access to information and establishes a direct communication channel between the Bureau, producers, exporters, and consumers.

Official Launch Event

The launch event, held at the VBS Headquarters in the George Pompidou Building, brought together senior government officials, private sector partners, industry stakeholders, and community representatives.

The ceremony was officially opened by the Director of Cabinet of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, alongside the Chairman of the VBS Board and the Director General of Trade and Commerce, and was witnessed by the entire staff of the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the live website and a symbolic cake-cutting ceremony, celebrating Vanuatu’s growing digital presence and commitment to global standards alignment.

“This website is more than information; it is a tool of empowerment for every citizen, every business, every producer, and every consumer in Vanuatu,” remarked the CEO of the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards.

“Now you can access our standards catalogue, send us your enquiries, lodge complaints about faulty or unsafe products, and directly participate in improving product quality across all sectors — from farms and packhouses to laboratories, schools, and marketplaces.

The platform supports our National Packhouse Policy and Export Compliance Program, which ensure that all stakeholders — from smallholder farmers to exporters — operate under one unified national quality framework.”

Transparency and the Right to Information

The launch aligns with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, ensuring public access to accurate and timely data about VBS’s services, mandates, and regulatory activities.

Through the new website, citizens, businesses, and development partners can access national standards, inspection procedures, certification requirements, and news updates.

Visitors can also use the Contact Portal to:

• Submit queries or information requests;
• Lodge complaints or alerts about unsafe or non-compliant products;
• Share feedback or ideas to strengthen national inspection and testing capacity;
• Or provide suggestions to support conformity assessment initiatives.

This digital approach makes standards and quality control a shared responsibility, empowering everyone to contribute to consumer protection, market safety, and export credibility.

Empowering Stakeholders Through Conformity Assessment

With VBS now fully implementing conformity assessment, inspection, and certification under the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards Act No. 14 of 2016, public participation is key in identifying unsafe or poor-quality goods circulating in the domestic market.

The new website serves as a digital bridge between producers, processors, exporters, laboratories, consumers, and government authorities — ensuring that national standards extend seamlessly from production sites to export destinations.

“Our standards framework is inclusive,” added the CEO. “It belongs to every sector — agriculture, fisheries, construction, education, energy, and beyond. Through this website, Vanuatu is demonstrating that quality is not the work of one institution but a collective national mission to protect our people, our economy, and our reputation abroad.”

Key Features of the Website

• National Standards Catalogue: Access and search for standards relevant to your industry.
• Export Compliance & Certification: Guidance for exporters on inspection, testing, and documentation.
• News & Announcements: Stay informed on training sessions, inspection programs, and conformity campaigns.
• Contact & Feedback Portal: Submit inquiries, complaints, or share experiences directly with VBS officers.
• Driving the Packhouse Policy and Export Compliance: The Packhouse Policy Program, led by VBS in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, ensures that all agricultural and manufactured goods processed in Vanuatu comply with international export standards. This “farm-to-market” framework links producers, packhouses, and exporters through certification and traceability. The website now operationalizes this system — enabling users to access standards online, download compliance guidelines, and contact VBS for assessment or certification support. By digitalizing procedures, VBS guarantees that Vanuatu’s products enter global markets confidently, backed by inspection, certification, and documentation in line with WTO’s Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) principles.

About the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards

Established under the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards Act No. 14 of 2016, VBS is the national authority responsible for the development, promotion, and implementation of standards across all sectors of the economy.

The Bureau leads the country’s Packhouse Policy Program and Export Compliance Framework, ensuring that Vanuatu’s products meet international safety and quality requirements while strengthening the nation’s competitiveness in global markets.

Through its new digital platform, VBS continues its mission to make standards accessible, protect consumers, and foster national excellence in trade and production.