Members of Parliament on the committee of tourism, trade and industry during a visit to UNBS head offices in Bweyogerere as part of thier orientation into the sector commended UNBS for its achievements even with its limited capacity in terms of funding and staffing.
“We know UNBS has challenges like limited funds to carry out operations. However, there is government support and commitment to improve the capacity of the bureau. As a committee, we pledge full support to this cause to enable UNBS ably implement its mandate which is so critical in ensuring the he alth and safety of Ugandans as well as improving the competiveness of our enterprises” said Mr. David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga, on behalf of the committee’s chairperson.
According to the UNBS Executive Director, Mr. David Livingstone Ebiru, UNBS is encouraging all local enterprises to embrace standards through numerous
packages that include Specialised training and capacity building programs on standardisation to help MSMEs comply with existing safety and quality requirements, Reduction of Certification fees from 800,000/= to 500,000/= for MSMEs and 1,300,000/= to 1,000,000/= for Large Enterprises per annum, Pre-Market Approval and Batch Certification scheme as interim measures for Enterprises to access the market as they wait to complete the certification process, Offering free standards to MSMEs Associations and Enterprises involved in production of COVID 19 related supplies e.g. Masks and Sanitizers.
Inadequate resources however, remains a challenge for UNBS as the chairperson of the National Standards
Council, Mrs. Masitula Munyaami Male notes “UNBS has commenced on decentralisation of services to
different parts of the country outside Kampala, with an aim of taking services closer to the people. However,
the staffing levels and other facilities in these regional offices are not yet adequate to support the required
UNBS services in these areas,” Mrs. Masitula Munyaami Male noted.
Some of the UNBS facilities visited by the MPs at the UNBS head office in Bweyogerere include; the internationally accredited Food Safety laboratories, Energy Meters Testing laboratory, and the Calibration rig for fuel tankers.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a Government Agency responsible for de veloping,
promoting and enforcing of national standards in the protection of Public Health and Safety, and the
Environment against harmful and sub-standard products.
