for a maximum of 24 hours, then proceeding on to a size-sorting system in which the tempered grain is crushed and transported to a purification apparatus in which remaining bran and impurities are removed. In total, the production process used by the company comprises four systems: the tempering process, the break system, the purification system, and the flour dressing system. A summary of the NAMILCO flour milling process is available here, as per the company's website. The resultant flour material is then transported through a reduction system in which finer particulates are sorted and collected, the coarser particles being reintroduced for further treatment and size reduction. In the final milling process, the flour is treated with a substance that oxidises carotene in the material, thus whitening it. In addition, the treatment process fortifies the flour product with vitamins B1, B2, C, Iron and Niacin and serves as a means of bolstering poor rates of public nutrition. This has been done in response to the phenomena of high rates of iron-deficiency anaemia prevalent in predominately rural and developing economies such as Guyana. Awards The National Milling Company of Guyana, as the largest and only flour milling firm in the country, plays an active role in the Guyanese agricultural manufacturing sector and has been conferred with several industry accreditations on its staff and manufacturing practices. The company first attained an International Standards Organisation ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certification on 1 May 2009 2009, its 40th anniversary year, being the first company in Guyana to achieve this accreditation. NAMILCO has maintained several 3-year accreditation periods with annual production process audits conducted by Swiss firm SGS S.A., the company’s current ISO 9001:2015 license is to be reviewed in 2021. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), an oversight body within the Business Ministry, held its second biennial National Quality Awards (NQA) ceremony on 17 October 2019. The accreditations were for the level of compliance with criteria established by the ISO concerning management, safety, and environmental standards. The bureau conducted audits at 21 participating companies. The National Milling Company collected four awards; winning an award for overall manufacturing, an award for green initiatives in manufacturing, an award for manufacturing health and safety, and an award for customer focus in manufacturing. The NQA program is an initiative introduced by the CARICOM Regional Organisation of Standards and Quality (CROSQ) in 2016. In October 2017 the first