Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)

Producers in Tanzania have been urged to ensure that their products carry quality marks issued by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to enable them to be exported to other countries, including those in the East African Community (EAC) without any hindrance.

This is due to an agreement among EAC member states that once a product has been certified by the standards bureau of a member country and awarded a quality mark, it does not need to be re-tested in other member countries.

The call was made yesterday by the TBS Acting Manager, Western Zone, Mr Hamis Seleleko, while speaking to residents, producers, businessmen, and investors at the Third Katavi Week Exhibition, which was held in Mpanda town from October 25 to 31, this year.

The aim of the exhibition was to promote the economic opportunities of Katavi Region, including investment, agriculture, mining, tourism, and livestock.

Mr Seleleko said the purpose of participating in the exhibition was to provide education on the services offered by TBS, including the issuance of quality marks for products produced in the country to ensure their quality and add value to them so that they can be accepted by consumers.

“But also to enable them to be exported, for example, in the East African Community, a product that has obtained a quality mark will be taken to any country without any trade barriers,” Seleleko emphasized.

In addition, he said that they had participated in the exhibition to inform the public that they provide testing services by testing various products in the bureau's laboratories located in Dar es Salaam.

Mr Seleleko said these laboratories are accredited and therefore internationally recognized, and any product tested in these laboratories becomes internationally recognized and does not need to be retested.

“So through this exhibition, we have urged them that the products that are supposed to enter the market are those that meet the requirements of the relevant standards,” he said.

He mentioned the challenges they may face by selling products that do not meet the required standards, including the removal of such products from the market, including products that have been banned in the Tanzanian market, such as cosmetics containing toxic substances.

“So we are telling the public, businessmen, and entrepreneurs to adhere to the standards set by the government through TBS,”he said.