Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.
Last Published: 8/19/2019

Overview
The Mauritius Standards Bureau (MSB) is the national body that develops standards for the manufacturing and service sectors, while the Mauritius Accreditation Service is the sole agency for providing accreditation to certification bodies in Mauritius.  Accreditation in Mauritius is a voluntary process.  Mauritius is open to internationally recognized best practices and collaborates with regional bodies such as COMESA and SADC, international bodies such as the OECD and UN, as well as developed economies like the United States, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union to develop and adopt standard best practices. 

Standards
The MSB is mandated to develop standards, provide metrology, calibration, testing, and quality assurance services to the manufacturing and service sectors.  It publishes a work program of its standards development activities in January and July of each year.  The website for the Mauritius Standards Bureau is
http://msb.intnet.mu/English/Pages/default.aspx.

Testing, inspection and certification
The Mauritius Accreditation Service (MAURITAS) is the sole authority in Mauritius for granting accreditation to conformity assessment bodies involved in calibration, testing, inspection, and certification. MAURITAS benchmarks its level of services with international guidelines and standards. 

The MSB is currently the sole product certification body in Mauritius.  MSB certification enables companies to use the MSB mark to demonstrate that their products and processes meet Mauritian standards.  The license for use of the mark for products and processes is valid for two years (renewable), during which the MSB conducts regular surveillance visits.  Mauritius has signed a Mutual Multilateral Recognition Agreement with the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). 

Accreditation in Mauritius is voluntary.  A list of accredited entities in Mauritius is available at http://www.mauritas.org/entities.php.

Publication of technical regulations
Draft standards are published in the Government Gazette and a 60-day period is allocated for public comments.  The Minister in charge of industry may, by public notice, transform a standard into a technical regulation after consideration of any written objection filed with the MSB.  Contact information for the MSB is provided below. 

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify the WTO on proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade.  Notify U.S. (www.nist.gov/notifyus) is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures.  Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country(ies) and industry sector(s) of interest, and can also request full texts of regulations.  This service and its associated website are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

Contact Information
Mauritius Standards Bureau, Villa Road, Moka, Mauritius, Contact: Acting Director, Tel: +230 433-3648, Fax: +230 433-5051, Email: msb@intnet.mu

Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection, 8th floor, Air Mauritius Center, Port Louis, Mauritius, Contact: The Permanent Secretary, Tel: +230 201-1068, Fax: +230 201-3289. 

The Embassy’s Economic/Commercial Section in Port Louis, Mauritius can be contacted via email at: bheenicks@state.gov; Phone: +230 202-4430 or +230 202-4465.
 

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