The Standards Development Department (SDD) is responsible for the development and maintenance of national standards and the formulation of national positions on  regional and international standardization issues.. The Department manages and coordinates the work of various technical committees, comprised of  representatives of relevant stakeholder groups and technical experts, that  contribute to the overall development of national standards.

Standards are developed in a wide variety of fields by Technical Committees comprised of experts in each field. The Standards Development Department of SLBS is responsible for planning and coordinating the development of national standards in addition to participating in international standards activities.The specific activities  of the department includes:

• Research activities and foresight planning for identification of greatest priorities for standardization
• Formulation of draft standards and identification of suitable regional and international standards for adoption as national standards
• Review and maintenance of national standard
• Periodic consultations with producers, service providers, Government Agencies, the private sector, consumer representatives, special interest groups and the general public to promote the concept and importance of standardization in national development
• Participation in regional and international standardization

The standards development work programme of SLBS focuses on the development, adoption and promotion of standards that will enhance product or service competitiveness and ultimately the economic development of St. Lucia. These standards may be developed from scratch but such an approach is often costly and time consuming. Also there is always the very real possibility that the lengthy developmental process will culminate in no more than a re-invention of the wheel.

The SDD  programme is designed to achieve this objective. The  execution of duties are  guided by the principles outlined in the ISO Code of Ethics, WTO good standardization practices, relevant ISO/IEC directives and the procedures and work instructions of the SLBS. These principles include:

1. a)  openness
2. b)  all inclusive participation by all stakeholders, including the public
3. c)  timely and adequate notification of activities related to regional or international standardization
4. d)  balance of interests in technical committees [producers; distributors; consumers; government; academia;special interest groups, etc.
5. e)  respect for differing views and objections
6. f)  achieving consensus
7. g)  preparation and maintenance of records
8. h)  appeals and dispute resolution mechanism

In view of this, the Standards Development Department encourages technical committees to adopt regional or international standards that will bring greater benefits to St. Lucia on a wider scale. Technical Committees operate on a consensus principle and the public is also given the opportunity to examine and comment on all draft standards before they are adopted as National Standards.

Current technical committees operating at the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards include:

Reference	Number	Committee Name	Status
		Technical Committees
SLBS TC 1	TC 1	National CODEX and Food Safety	Active
SLBS TC 2	TC 2	Agricultural Products and Practices	Active
SLBS TC 3	TC 3	Chemicals and Chemical Products	Active
SLBS TC 4	TC 4	Construction and Engineering	Active
SLBS TC 5	TC 5	Environmental Sustainability	Active
SLBS TC 6	TC 6	Tourism	Active
SLBS TC 7	TC 7	Advertising	Disbanded
SLBS TC 8	TC 8	Metrology	Disbanded
SLBS TC 9	TC 9	Telecommunications	Disbanded
SLBS TC 10	TC 10	Mechanical Engineering Products and Practices	Active
SLBS TC 11	TC 11	Blood Bank and Transfusion Services	Disbanded
SLBS TC 12	TC 12	Furniture	Active
SLBS TC 13	TC 13	Electrical and Electronics	Active
SLBS TC 14	TC 14	General Consumer Products	Active
SLBS TC 15	TC 15	Beauty and Wellness	Active
SLBS TC 16	TC 16	Education and Child Development	Active
SLBS TC 17	TC 17	Social Responsibility	Standby
SLBS TC 18	TC 18	Management Services	Active
SLBS TC 19	TC 19	Conformity Assessment	Active
SLBS TC 20	TC 20	Health Services	Active
	SC#	Sub Committees
SLBS TC 1/SC 1	SC 1	Subcommittee on Codex Committee on Food Hygiene	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 2	SC 2	Codex Committee on Food Labelling	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 3	SC 3	Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 4	SC 4	Codex coordinating committee for Latin America and the Caribbean	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 5	SC 5	Codex Food Import and Export Monitoring Systems	Active
SLBS TC 14/SC 6	SC 6	Tobacco Products	Active
SLBS  TC 1/SC 7	SC 7	CROSQ Regional Committee for Foods Products	Active
SLBS TC10/SC 8	SC 8	Subcommittee on Tyres	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 9	SC 9	Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues	Active
SLBS TC 18/SC 10	SC 10	Occupational health and safety management systems	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 11	SC 11	Potable Waters	Active
SLBS TC 1/SC 12	SC 12	Fats and Oils	Active
SLBS TC 5/SC 13	SC 13	Energy Efficiency and Energy Management	Active
SLBS TC 15/SC 14	SC 14	Cosmetics	Active
SLBS TC 13/SC 15	SC 15	Energy Efficiency Labelling – Electrical Appliances	Active
SLBS TC 10/ SC 16	SC 16	Refrigerants	Active
SLBS TC14/ SC 17	SC 17	Product Recall	Standby
SLBS TC 14/ SC 18	SC 18	Garments and Textiles	Standby
SLBS TC 10/ SC 19	SC 19	Automotive Fuels	Standby
SLBS TC 10/ SC 20	SC 20	Automotive Services	Standby
SLBS TC 1/ SC 21	SC 21	Bakeries and Bread products	Disbanded
SLBS TC 5/ SC 22	SC 22	Public Signage	Disbanded
SLBS TC 6/ SC 23	SC 23	Sites and Attractions	Disbanded
SLBS TC 2/ SC 24	SC 24	Meat and Meat Products	Active
SLBS TC 10/ SC 25	SC 25	Brake Pad and Brake Linings	Disbanded
SLBS TC 18/SC 26	SC 26	Governance in Organizations	Active

The Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards [SLBS] is a member of standards setting organizations such as ISO, IEC, COPANT, CODEX & CROSQ. THe Standards Development aspects that are accrued due to membership of these organisations are coordinated by the SDD.  This enables the SLBS [and by extension St. Lucia] to participate in and contribute to the development and application of regional and international standards and other related deliverables. SLBS contributes to this process through:

1. a)  active participation in the work programmes of selected technical committees, sub-committees, or working groups established by these organizations
2. b)  commenting and voting on committee draft standards, draft regional/international standards, final draft regional/international standards and other standards related documents, issues, etc
3. c)  establishing national mirror technical committees, ad hoc advisory groups, etc. to monitor the technical work of these regional/international organizations
4. d)  participating in surveys on the application and impacts of regional/international standards and other related deliverables