UGANDA | UNBS | REVIEWS | ENGINE OILS

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has embarked on stakeholder consultations in a move to revise engine oil standards.

UNBS is doing this together with the energy ministry.

Once affected, engine oil dealers will have to adhere to the revisions before putting their products on the market.

EAC standard

Speaking during a stakeholders meeting on Wednesday, UNBS executive director David Livingstone Ebiru said there is a need to ensure that oil products are safe for the environment, vehicles, and industrial machinery.

“There were some elements of environmental protection that were not keenly looked at and that need revision." "In addition, issues of evolving technologies and fair trade have been missing,” he said.

"As a result, we are revisiting the standard in light of global emerging practices, emerging innovations, and technologies to improve the environment, the safety of our vehicles, industrial equipment, and consumer health."

Ebiru said they are transitioning to the East African Community standard "as we are now trading as one economic bloc."

He said consulting stakeholders for the revisions "will ensure the voice of the Ugandan traders, operators, and oil marketing companies is embedded in the standards so that we can be able to benefit from and participate in its implementation without leaving anybody behind."

“Once there is harmonization, the Ugandan products can now compete internationally and will also encourage consumption of the locally made products since they are at the same quality level as the imported engine oil products."

'Awareness gap'

Dean Tashobya, the principal standards officer at the energy ministry, said the East African Standard 2000 for engine oil has become obsolete, thus calling for a revised and better standard in 2019.

“Considering that there has been a lot of technological advancement in the way oils are processed, we must review the current standards as they miss several vital aspects,” he said.

“There is an awareness gap as most consumers are not able to tell the difference between fake and genuine products." Some people complain that used oils are mixed with new ones and then repackaged for sale.

"As a result, we need harmonized standards to ensure higher-quality products that protect consumer safety while competing on the global market," Tashobya explained.

'Consistency'

According to Olive Bitamale from Empower Oil Namanve, processors face a big challenge due to the lack of trust in locally made oil and lubricants, which she said is due to a lack of standards.

“There are masqueraders out there who are producing poor-quality precuts." These products are used by service providers in garages and are being put into clients’ cars without the clients’ knowledge. "Standards will ensure consistency,” she said.

People's health

Anthony Ogalo, the chairperson of the Association of Petroleum Marketers, said harmonized standards will reduce the importation of engine oil products since locally processed products will be competent in terms of quality.

“We operate in an environment where there is pollution due to emissions arising from oils and lubricants. "So, it is important that we look at the contents and review standards to ensure they take into consideration the health impact on vehicles and industrial machines,” he said.

Kimera Henry Richard, a consumer rights and development advocate, said that once oil products are not clean and safe and are substandard, they can affect the health of people.

“Oils could be adding to the rampant accidents we are experiencing." "So, it is vital that we discuss these issues affecting lubricants,” he said.

According to Vubya Williams, the operations manager at Protenza Lubricants, the focus should be put on engine oils used in four-stroke and two-stroke motorcycle gasoline engines.

“The public doesn’t know what represents good engine oil." They need to look out for products that have a UNBS quality mark because we have a lot of bodaboda counterfeited oil products. "They use lubricants from recycled base oils,” he said.

'Backyard garages'

According to Ebiru, the noncompliance of local producers is still high as most of the sectors involved in production are still highly informal and thus hard to identify their locations.

“People are manufacturing in their backyard garages without a physical address." We want to encourage everybody involved in the processing of these products to follow the standards,” he said.

“We are asking consumers to report products without the Q [quality] mark. We encourage self-regulation and compliance since UNBS can’t reach everywhere.”