Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)

TBS Management Systems Certification Body is a Body under Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) that provides an assessment based around the chosen standard of an organization e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 etc.

The Certification Body will award a certificate to organizations to show that they have complied with the requirements set out in the standard.

Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs), especially those nurtured by the Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) or recognized by the government get TBS certification services freely. Such MSMEs are not supposed to pay any certification fee. TBS also trains MSMEs in various regions on safety and quality production.

The standards mark is for goods manufactured within the country. For imported goods, TBS issues certificates for those goods that have passed TBS tests. Any consumer doubting whether such goods are in good order or not can enquire through TBS offices or use hotline number 0800110827. The consumer is also encouraged to look for marks of quality of the country from which particular goods come from.

The certificate period is one year only, each year end the client has to seek for renewal to ensure that each certified client has a chance at mandatory level to be inspected once every year in case by chance the client missed to be inspected in between.

Yes. TBS conducts day to day inspections and sample collection. This includes batch inspections at the ports, airports, other entry points and at importers’ premises. TBS also conducts routine surveillance inspections to clients licensed to use the ‘tbs’ mark and those certified under tested product certification schemes. Pre-licence/certificate inspections to new applicants under “tbs” and tested product certification are also conducted.

For certified companies, TBS conducts about 4 inspections annually. The first is conducted at the factory upon receipt of certification request from a client. Upon certification, TBS conducts at least three inspections either at the premise or through point of purchase without the knowledge of the producer. This is done to ensure that the products adhere to standards all the time.

Accreditation is the conformity assessment of bodies that perform conformity assessment services. It is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented. Various TBS laboratories are accredited by the South African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS) against ISO/IEC 17025, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.

Certification process starts with an application to the Director General from the producer. After the application has been received by the Director General, the producer is then replied with all the necessary procedures to be followed for certification. In most cases, or as is often the case, the producer is asked to obtain standards from TBS before embarking on the whole process. It must be clear that certification is done against a particular standard, so acquiring a standard is obligatory.

Certification is a third-party attestation that a product, service, person or management system meets specified requirements. By giving the purchaser confidence that a product or service meets the requirements, certification facilitates trade both within countries and between countries. Tanzania Bureau of Standards runs four certification schemes, namely TBS Mark Certification Scheme, Batch Certification Scheme for Imports, Tested Product Certification Scheme and Management systems registration scheme.

All Tanzania Standards can be purchased from the TBS library or online via TBS webstore on TBS website under e-Service menu. The entire collection of published standards can be searched on TBS website via the TBS Standards Catalogue under Standardization menu. You can search by title, standard number, product or International Classification for Standards (ICS) number.