All imports to be screened at source to block fakes

Tanzania will start screening imported products at the source to block the entry of counterfeits.

The move, dubbed the Pre-shipment Verification of Conformity to Standards, will see all imported products being verified by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS).

This will help keep counterfeit goods off the market, to the benefit of locally manufactured products covered by national standards.

Charles Ekelege, managing director of the bureau of standards, told The EastAfrican in Dar es Salaam last week that the standards body is taking stern measures to curb unfair competition with locally manufactured products.

The government will, therefore, make it mandatory to screen imported products at the points of departure.

Mr Ekelege said the move will bar sub-standard products from entering the country.

“In future, the standards bureau will require all products destined to Tanzania to be screened at source under the pre-shipment verification of conformity to standards rules,” he said.

According to Mr Ekelege, the export markets can be obtained and sustained only when the local one has internationally competitive goods, not just in price but in quality, too.

TBS said the use of quality standards has led to participation of a wider range of enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in export trade.

The role of TBS is to supervise the implementation of national standards. The bureau is implementing the standards through different certification schemes.

These aim mainly at ensuring that only quality products are available in Tanzania.

TBS also conducts various training courses for industry players on quality management.

It has experts on various management systems like ISO 9000, IOS 14000, ISO 17025 and ISO 22000.

The bureau’s chief role is to coordinate the development of national standards.

There are over 100 technical committees that draw experts from different stakeholders.

A report by the bureau says over 1,200 standards have been prepared, a third of which have been published as compulsory.

“Whenever a standard covers a product that can affect health, safety, the environment or has a significant impact on the economy, it is published and made compulsory,” Mr Ekelege said.

TBS said adherence to all other standards is voluntary. Out of the published national standards, over 600 were adopted from the International Standards Organisations (ISO).

The organisation’s mission is to inculcate awareness into and promote adoption of standardisation and quality assurance by the industry and commercial sectors.

TBS also aims at raising the competitive edge of both internal and external markets. Its overall objective is to promote the availability of good and safe products and enhance economic development.

The firm’s chairperson, Professor Apollinaria Peleka, said the standards are established on a principle of consensus and adherence to them is largely voluntary.

He said participation by stakeholders in establishing standards is very important. Dialogue between all the stakeholders is encouraged.

“Developing countries face many trade-related standardisation challenges. Tanzania needs a well-developed standardisation infrastructure to engage in the global trading system,” she said.

Mr Ekelege said trade liberation in developing countries requires standards-related technical assistance as part of an overall development strategy.

The ISO comprises national standards bodies of 162 countries — developed, developing and those whose economies are in transition — making it a worldwide organisation.

The ISO president, Alan Morrison, says they are out to ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as quality, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchange ability.

He said the organisation is out to ensure that all countries make quality products.

“When products, systems, machinery and devices work well and safely, it is often because they meet the set standards,” he said.

The organisation facilitates the development, manufacturing and supply of quality products and services by promoting efficiency, safety and healthy trade between countries.

ISO is the largest developer and publisher of international standards.

It is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, one member per country, with a central secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

It is a non-governmental organisation that forms a bridge between public and private sectors.

Many of its members are part of their countries’ governmental structure, or are mandated by their governments.

Tanzania borders eight countries — the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.

It has a population of about 40 million and a surface area of 945,087 square kilometres.

As of 2007, it had an estimated GDP growth of seven per cent, higher than the growth rate of 6 per cent attained in 2006.

This growth resulted from agricultural production, mining, tourism, trade, transport and communication.

TBS is a statutory national standards body established by the Standards Act no 3 of 1975.

It was re-established by a new Standards Act no 2 of 2009 to give it more powers and align it to the best international practices.

The Standards Act empowers TBS to develop national standards, to control the quality of a wide range of commodities, to provide testing and metrology services, to develop and run certification schemes and to act as a custodian of the national measurement standards in Tanzania.

The bureau is under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing.