Standards watchdog targets SMEs
Aug 29, 2011
THE Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has cut the cost of product certification by 50% to encourage small-and-medium size (SMEs) to subscribe to product certification scheme.
By Pascal Kwesiga
THE Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has cut the cost of product certification by 50% to encourage small-and-medium size (SMEs) to subscribe to product certification scheme.
Dr. Terry Kahuma, the UNBS executive director, said on Friday that SMEs will now pay only sh400,000, down from sh800,000 to have their products certified under a new scheme dubbed S-mark.
He, however, said big companies would continue paying sh800,000 for product certification.
Product certification involves placing a quality mark on a particular commodity bearing the UNBS insignia after meeting set standards. It is a sign of superior quality and excellence.
After a product is certified, the UNBS continues to monitor it to ensure that there are no duplicates of the same product on the market.
It also carries out frequent audits on the certified product to ensure that quality is not compromised or changed.
This, Kahuma added, ensures value-for-money for the buyers.
The scheme helps the standards watchdog in fighting against the counterfeit products menace, which is crippling local manufacturers.
It also enables such products to access regional and international markets. So far over 20 local firms have the UNBS quality mark, but more are expected to join the bandwagon after the fee reduction, another UNBS official, indicated.
“We are targeting hundreds of local firms,†Kahuma said after a warding a product certification to Alteco Group of Companies at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala. Alteco produces adhesive products.
Kahuma pointed out that it was for the international company to have its products certified since they were being duplicated by unscrupulous traders. He disclosed that there was fake super glue on market purportedly produced by Alteco. He advised the public to shun it as long as it lacks the UNBS quality mark.
“It is dangerous. Sometimes empty super glue tubes are sold,†Kahuma observed.
He urged SME proprietors to subject their products to the quality certification scheme.
Mukesh Nankani, the managing director of Karima Uganda Ltd, the distributors of Alteco products, said product certification would help buyers differentiate genuine products from fabricated ones.
THE Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has cut the cost of product certification by 50% to encourage small-and-medium size (SMEs) to subscribe to product certification scheme.
Dr. Terry Kahuma, the UNBS executive director, said on Friday that SMEs will now pay only sh400,000, down from sh800,000 to have their products certified under a new scheme dubbed S-mark.
He, however, said big companies would continue paying sh800,000 for product certification.
Product certification involves placing a quality mark on a particular commodity bearing the UNBS insignia after meeting set standards. It is a sign of superior quality and excellence.
After a product is certified, the UNBS continues to monitor it to ensure that there are no duplicates of the same product on the market.
It also carries out frequent audits on the certified product to ensure that quality is not compromised or changed.
This, Kahuma added, ensures value-for-money for the buyers.
The scheme helps the standards watchdog in fighting against the counterfeit products menace, which is crippling local manufacturers.
It also enables such products to access regional and international markets. So far over 20 local firms have the UNBS quality mark, but more are expected to join the bandwagon after the fee reduction, another UNBS official, indicated.
“We are targeting hundreds of local firms,†Kahuma said after a warding a product certification to Alteco Group of Companies at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala. Alteco produces adhesive products.
Kahuma pointed out that it was for the international company to have its products certified since they were being duplicated by unscrupulous traders. He disclosed that there was fake super glue on market purportedly produced by Alteco. He advised the public to shun it as long as it lacks the UNBS quality mark.
“It is dangerous. Sometimes empty super glue tubes are sold,†Kahuma observed.
He urged SME proprietors to subject their products to the quality certification scheme.
Mukesh Nankani, the managing director of Karima Uganda Ltd, the distributors of Alteco products, said product certification would help buyers differentiate genuine products from fabricated ones.