The Uganda National Bureau of Standards has destroyed 413 metric tonnes of substandard goods worth Shs3.5 billion as it intensifies the fight against substandard products on the local market, the agency says in the latest press release.
According to the press release, the goods destroyed ranged from electronics, cosmetics, steel products, iron sheets, food stuffs, toilet papers, agro-inputs, cooking oil, second hand tyres, beers, paints, and cereals, among others.
“The destruction of goods follows country wide seizures carried out by the UNBS Market Surveillance and Imports Inspectors in the course of the last financial year 2017/18,” it says.
Further, as part of the continued effort to fight locally manufactured substandard products, UNBS says it has formulated regulations to ensure that all products covered by compulsory standards are certified before they are allowed on the market.
UNBS has also decentralised its services to regional offices in Mbale, Gulu, and Mbarara to serve the eastern, northern, and western regions respectively, to bring certification and market surveillance services closer to people and to continue fighting substandard products on the market.
“The new regulations and decentralisation of UNBS services are part of the multi-pronged approach the Bureau has put in place to deal with the presence of substandard products on the market. Such initiatives will go a long way in improving the quality of products on the market,” the press release reads in part.
The decentralisation will further promote production of good quality products by Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) at regional level thereby complementing the government’s industrialisation efforts while protecting consumers and the environment from dangerous substandard products.
Fighting substandard products requires a concerted effort involving UNBS working together with manufacturers, traders, consumers, and other government agencies, the press release says.