“They are not TBS standards. They are the people’s standards,” Ms. Kezia Mbwambo, the Director of Quality Management at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) begins by setting the record straight. Ms. Mbwambo feels it is very important to address the constraint of a misguided public perception about standards and their uses. She does not however feel it is important nor helpful to apportion blame. On behalf of the TBS Director General, she has been leading efforts at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards to make standards work better for Tanzanians with support from TradeMark Africa (TMA). [caption id="attachment_55084" align="alignnone" width="1607"] “There has been slow uptake of standards, this despite the fact that TBS has always used participatory design strategies to come up with these standards, in line with international protocols and requirements for development of national standards,” Ms. Mbwambo says.[/caption] With support from TMA, the bureau is embarking on a process of improving its service delivery mechanisms to its stakeholders. Part of this improvement includes developing a training programme on standardization and quality assurance, mainly targeting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) using both paper-based and digital platforms. The bureau is also developing an Integrated Standardization, Quality assurance, Metrology and Testing (SQMT) system that will automate the key administrative processes used to offer services to its stakeholders. For TBS, this is expected to quicken the process of certifying products and expand the base of products that have met standards. For many entrepreneurs with dreams to do well in the country,...

From commercial to regulatory formalities, export procedures are often burdensome and time consuming for the average businessperson. Small delays in the implementation of any of these or more procedures have the potential to bring serious negative impact on businesses. “Buyers’ minds are often directed at obtaining a quality service or product, and in a timely manner. They are not too empathetic on procedural issues on the suppliers’ side. This burden is the exporters’ and cannot be shifted to anyone else,” explains Octavian Kiviryo, an expert in freight and logistics who has worked with many exporting businesses in Tanzania. Certificates of Origin (CoO) are important and mandatory pieces of documentation for the export business. As the name suggests, CoO details the origin of goods in a consignment. For a long time, a CoO cumbersome procedural requirement slowed down the exporting process from Tanzania. Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) and Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (ZNCCIA) are the institutions vested with the full mandate of verifying the origin of all goods manufactured or processed in Tanzania for the export market and therefore, the issuance of the Certificates of Origin. For a long time, they used manual process, that was littered with a lot of paper-work and multiple visits by traders to offices. Today, and with support from TradeMark Africa (TMA) the two institutions have adopted an electronic system for application of CoO greatly cutting back on transaction costs and time traders incurred. This is premised on...

1 BACKGROUND TFDA began its operations as a regulatory body on 1st July 2003 and is mandated to regulate the quality, safety and efficacy of food, medicines, cosmetics and medical devices which is provided for under the Tanzania Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Cap 219. Since its inception, TFDA has attained notable achievements in regulating the quality, safety and efficacy of food, medicines, cosmetics and medical devices. Amongst its achievements, TFDA has developed robust systems and put in place guidelines for registration of products, inspection and surveillance as well as laboratory analysis of product samples prior to market authorization. This case study focuses on the improvements that Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) has made in enhancing trade in Tanzania through the automation of their key trade process with support from TMA. The TMA support towards automation of key trade process at TFDA began in 2012 at a tune US $ 285,000 and is expected to end in 2017. The automated system at TFDA serves its stakeholders in registration, regulation and monitoring of food, medicines, cosmetics, medical devices and premises in Tanzania. The expected outcome of the TMA intervention at TFDA was to increase efficiency through time and cost saving for TFDA and its stakeholders as the portal eliminates the need for physical presence of customers at TFDA offices, promotes transparency and accountability by TFDA and its customers which in the long run enhance and promotes trade. 2 THE ISSUE The method of services delivered at TFDA to its stakeholders...