Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)

The Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has urged public servants to develop knowledge on substandard goods to become good ambassadors and support the government in uprooting them from the local market.

The remarks were made by the TBS Food Safety Officer, Barnabas Jacob here during the training to public servants imparting them education on the side effects of using counterfeit cosmetics with poisonous ingredients.

He said the training aimed at equipping public servants to become ambassadors in the community to help to identify and prohibiting the use of substandard goods especially cosmetics.

Mr Jacob said apart from giving them education on substandard cosmetics, TBS also informed the public servants on the standard watchdog obligations in the country.

Some of the public servants who participated in the training came from the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO), Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania Commercial Bank (TCB), TTCL Corporation and the National Identification Authority (NIDA).

Mr Jacob said, “The education provided by TBS intended to equip public servants with sufficient knowledge on how to identify quality and counterfeit goods particularly on prohibited cosmetics,”

He said TBS alone cannot be able to reach and provide education to all citizens on how to identify quality and substandard goods and thus it is by creating ambassadors like the public servants that awareness may reach the whole population.

During the training, public servants were informed on various short and long term side effects that may be contracted by using prohibited cosmetics with poisonous ingredients.

He mentioned some of the side effects including skin itching, swelling, problems in reproductive organs and skin cancer.

Furthermore, the poisonous ingredients in cosmetics may also affect the liver, kidneys, and reproductive organs to even affecting new-borns.

Mr Jacob said the education provided to public servants was well received and pledged to become good ambassadors to their families, neighbours and the whole community.

In the meantime, TBS conducted an inspection on various shops to remove substandard goods from the shelves.