Uganda National Bureau of Standards champions quality
During the past 27 years, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has made it a point that Ugandan products meet national, regional and international standards. 
This responsibility has helped transform the mindset of Ugandan producers, manufacturers and business people from being pushed to standardize to actually demand for standardization of their products as a matter of routine.
About ten to fifteen years ago, interventions to effect standards on domestic and imported products were dismal. It was hampered by a limited number of UNBS personnel who numbered only 99 employees at one point and general knowledge about standards among the general public was equally limited.
Consequently, emphasizing standards during the early days of UNBS was an uphill task.
However, Patricia Ejalu, the Deputy UNBS Executive Director, says over the years, the Bureau has been steadily building its capacity in different areas including human resources which has seen the number of employees increase from less than 100 to 240 today.
The organization has also invested much time and effort in sensitization of the public to appreciate the issue of standards and this has paid off.  Today, the mindset of the people has now been solidly anchored to and actually demands standards.
This has helped in making people appreciate the work of UNBS and gradually made the work of organization easer, because it is supported by the population.
Ejalu says UNBS has improved its efforts in carrying out market surveillance on standards and this has helped it to streamline adoption and implementation of standards based on demands of the market.
Consequently, this has improved the competitiveness of Ugandan products both in the local and regional markets.
Competitiveness means; making a presence in the market and being able to sustain that presence in that market. To be competitive, standards must come into play more than ever in regional and international trade.
UNBS has developed synergies with different public and private organizations like Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), National Information Technology Authority – Uganda (NITA-U), Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), to mention but a few to maximize condition and easy sharing of resources for effective delivery of services.
These collaborations have helped to leverage the organization in areas where it faces challenges and thus be able to achieve its mandate. The synergies have helped in reducing the time and costs in the business environment.
Ejalu is pleased by UNBS’s improved capacity. The organization has widened its scope in the number of products it can test. This has aided UNBS to test a majority of locally produced products to ensure conformity to standards and improve their competitiveness in the market.
The Bureau has acquired the necessary equipment for its laboratory testing thanks to the support from TradeMark Africa and previously the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. This equipment has enhanced UNBS’s laboratory testing capacity.
UNBS has also secured accreditation of its standards and as such, has been granted ISO 17025 certificate. ISO 17025 is a general requirement for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It is used to develop and implement laboratory management systems.
By having your laboratory management system accredited to ISO 17025, your company stands to gain a number of benefits. One of the main advantages is that your laboratory will gain international recognition for its commitment to quality, competency and reliable results.
In addition, ISO 17025  accreditation signifies that you comply with an internationally recognized standard, thus easing the global exchange of valuable information.
Accreditation is an objective and an uncomprising way to assure your customers that you have demonstrated technical competence to provide reliable and accurate test or calibration results.
To consolidate these gains, UNBS has been doing some capacity building for its human resource through training to improve their know-how in effecting standards.
Today, UNBS negotiates and shares notes with other standard organizations/agencies to develop and harmonize standards for the East African Community. T
his has led to the development of 366 harmonized standards requirements that all products in the region must meet to access the regional market.
Under the EAC harmonized standards, member states have the mandate to supervise one another. This means each country follows the prerequisite criteria of effecting standards which has helped to provide a leveled playing field for EAC product and for that matter allowed fair competition.
The harmonization of standards in EAC has seen UNBS operate a Product Quality Certification Scheme. This is a mandatory product certification scheme for locally manufactured goods. UNBS thus certifies locally produced products with a Q-mark and S-mark.
Ejalu says the Q-mark means a product meets the required standards to access the regional market while the S-mark is mainly awarded to small and medium enterprise (SMEs) as an initial boost to make them appreciate what it means to adhere to standards.
She says a standards system contributes to value- addition and is a major reason why UNBS is pushing SMEs to embrace standards, because those who have accepted too have gained access to bigger markets.  It also means empowering consumers to hold producers responsible by asking for standard products.
This is the reason why every product in the market today, be it in the shopping mall, supermarket or shop, bears a UNBS standard certification.
Overall, this has facilitated competitiveness of Ugandan products in the different markets and explains why the country may be an importer in the outside market but an exporter in the regional market.

By EABW, Sunday, October 09th, 2016

Source: yes africa

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.