Parliament has unanimously called for increased funding to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) following reports of delays in certification and laxity on enforcement of standards.
Legislators complained that UNBS now takes almost a year to respond to a request for certification, saying it has frustrated business and creates a lee way for counterfeit products.
“UNBS is facing severe financial and human resource challenges such that their turnaround time for them to certify a product is 12 months, while our counterpart in Kenya takes only one month,” said Hon. Naboth Namanya (FDC, Rubabo County).
Namanya was concerned that UNBS generates significant revenue for the country proposing that it should be well facilitated to ably play their watchdog role over the standards of products produced in Uganda and also those imported.
“UNBS charges Shs800,000 to certify a single product, annually it collects about Shs80 billion but their budget is around Shs40 billion. I want to implore the Committee on Tourism and Trade to go and assess that entity to understand its limitations in exercising their mandate,” said Namanya.
Namanya was speaking during the plenary sitting on Tuesday, 03 December 2024 chaired by Speaker Anita Among.
Among raised the appalling situation at UNBS during her communication, decrying the challenges that traders are grappling with because of the standards agency.
“As a regulatory body responsible for setting and enforcing standards the public expects greater efficiency, and effectiveness. We are not saying they are incompetent, but there are delays, I want to urge UNBS to do the audits and issue certificates to help the business community sell their products,” Among said.
Kole North County MP, Hon. Samuel Opio, said UNBS was also at fault for delaying to renew licenses upon expiry saying the process takes at least three months. “They require you not to put the product on the shelf until its license is renewed, as a result you cannot export or produce for the next three months when your license has expired,” said Opio.
MPs said the entity’s laxity explains the influx of counterfeit products, which they said pose a threat to human life.
Busia Municipality MP, Hon. Geoffrey Macho, claimed that different locally made liquors on the market are said to contribute to impotence and the resultant gender based violence.
“Due to limited staff to carryout inspection of products, we have a range of liquors that are not regulated and said to pose a risk of impotence; this is affecting families, causing divorce and gender-based violence,” Macho said.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Amos Kankunda, explained that the current financing mechanism explains the problems UNBS is facing.
“The nature of their funding is the problem, when people who apply for certification pay, money goes to the Consolidated Fund and the money that is allocated to them cannot meet the demands. UNBS has few people who cannot perform the required task, they are under performing because of capacity,” Kankunda, also the Rwampara County MP, said.
Legislators expressed concerns that if Uganda is to conduct pre-shipment assessment for all products imported as it is the practice, then UNBS must be well facilitated. They expressed fear that failure to strengthen the entity will pave way for toxic products on the market.
The Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (Industry), Hon. David Bahati, said that his ministry will produce a report on the time UNBS is taking to respond to requests for certification, cognisant that normal process should take two months.
“We shall get a report and see how many have applied and how long it takes them to be certified. We know that UNBS needs to supported to recruit enough man power for both enforcement and certification,” said Bahati.
Bahati noted that the demand is high for services rendered under UNBS saying that the industrial sector has expanded to 9,400 registered factories that contribute 27.4 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product.
The Speaker, directed the Committee on Tourism and Trade to assess UNBS taking into consideration matters raised by MPs. She noted that since Parliament is soon considering the Budget Framework Paper for 2025, the committee should utilise the period to examine the budgetary constraints and budget accordingly.