Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)

Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) said traders have the primary obligation of protecting consumers by refraining from importing, manufacturing, distributing and selling harmful cosmetics.

The Bureau's Director General Dr Yusuf Ngenya said the ingredients used in some of the cosmetics are toxic and harmful to human beings.

Dr Ngenya made the call in Dar Salaam recently at a meeting with importers, retailers, manufacturers and distributors of cosmetics in the country.

"Traders including importers and manufacturers are required by import and manufacture cosmetic products that meet the TBS standards to protect the health of consumers," he said.

For example from 2022/23 to April this year, TBS has seized and destroyed 114 tonnes of cosmetics with toxic cosmetics worth over 1.49bn/-.

He also explained that there is a standard of cosmetics that prescribes certain ingredients that can be used in certain areas and also prohibits some in certain ones.

He said the Finance Act No. 2 of 2009 and Finance Act No. 8 of 2019 gives TBS the mandate of protecting the quality and safety of all domestic and imported products, including cosmetics so as to keep its people safe.

He said by prohibiting sale of cosmetics with toxic ingredients, TBS wants to protect the health of citizens, considering that such items pose serious consequences including skin cancer and kidney diseases.

He said TBS will continue to provide awareness on low quality products because some small-scale traders lack knowledge of identifying banned cosmetics, a problem that causes them to incur loss when authorities confiscate their commodities.

He said TBS also used the opportunity to educate the traders' goods certification, registration of business premises and products.

"If TBS and stakeholders particularly traders cooperate, we shall boost our country's economy since our products will easily penetrate the regional and global markets," he emphasized.

The government through TBS will ensure the necessary guidelines relating to the quality and safety of the products are given in time to ensure products that did not meet the required standard are removed from the market.

The government has been putting more effort to build a strong economy which is sustainable and it is from this backdrop that TBS is continuing to provide education to producers and consumers on the need to abide by quality standards.