EXPORTS FROM TZ: WHEN TBS MEANS LITTLE ABROAD..

THE Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) was established in 1975 (under
Parliamentary Act Number 3 of that year) and has been active all that
period. In 1982, the Bureau established the TBS Testing House for the
purpose of assisting manufacturers to improve the quality of their products
for both the domestic and export markets.
Yet, some TBS-certified products have been rejected as being
sub-standard at the world’s export markets, despite the Bureau routinely
vouching for them as to their standard of quality.
Apparently, the main reason for this is the lack in Tanzania all these
years of a National Accreditation Board (NAB).
The TBS acting director-general, Charles Ekelege, says such an
institution would go a long way in making TBS-certified products recognized
as a matter of routine at the When TBS means little abroad ...
By Eric Toroka marketplace. Speaking to Business Times recently
at his office in the nation’s commercial city, Ekelege said a
national accreditation board – complete with the requisite state-of-theart
laboratories, facilities, testing methods and competent personnel
that are associated with such an institution – would boost Tanzanian
exports no end. To that end, the Bureau for the
umpteenth time urges the Government to form a National Accreditation
Board with little or no delay. Such Boards elsewhere are more
often than not credited with considerable improvement in quality standard
in many other countries. “It pains me to see my staff
working their fingers to the bone in bona fide efforts to improving the
quality of Tanzanian products. But, when some of those products reach
the world’s markets, they are sometimes rejected out of hand on the
basis of quality. And, this is largely because Tanzania does not yet have
a National Accreditation Board, period,” Ekelege said.
Ekelege revealed that the Bureau more often than not has to
refer products to South Africa’s accreditation system, to which it
thankfully have ready access. The Bureau’s Test House in
Dar es Salaam was established in 1982 to provide facilities for the
testing of products so as to ensure their suitability for the intended
use. In that regard, it also verifies pre-export and pre-import product
quality. Indeed, the TBS Test House provides quick, accurate and con-
fidential test facilities for type-testing, audit testing, technical guidance
and advice on test methods and training of laboratory personnel.
The tests are carried out to Tanzania, other national and ISO
standards, as well to the client’s specifications.
So far, TBS has seven laboratories at the Test House. These are a
chemical lab, a materials-testing lab, a food lab, a textile & leather lab,
a metrology lab, an electrical engineering lab and a mechanical engineering
lab. But, without having a functional and functioning National Accreditation
Board, the Test House augurs for naught.
As a matter of fact, only the metrology laboratory out of the seven
has been accredited, being so recognized internationally only last year
by the South Africa National Accreditation Service. According to the TBS boss, the
lab is the fourth to be accredited in Africa – and the first in Tanzania
– on December 15, 2006. The Bureau has also been participating
in the East African Standards Community since 1998, with the aim
of merging the regions’ standards. “The East African Standard
Community would help Tanzania’s products with the TBS mark to enter
the regions’ markets without a problem,” Ekelege explained.
At present, the East African Standards Community has correlated
more than 700 standards, all of which have been harmonized in the
region. Currently, the Committee for Correlating Standards in the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) has successfully correlated
50 standards. This is partly because of the language problem and, as
result, meetings take longer than desired. “You know, some of the participants
speak in vernacular, thus calling an interpreter. So, automatically
the meetings become longer than expected,” he stated.
Ekelege has also urged the Government in Dar to form a Consumer
Advocacy institution. Such an organization would help inform consumers
about sub-standard products, and those rejected by TBS.
Standards Accreditation Boards elsewhere
are more often than not credited with considerable
improvement in quality standards of domestically produced
goods in many other countries.


SOURCE: BUSINESS TIMES