The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
THE Standard Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) says it is ready to take over imports testing, inspection and certification from the French-based Bureau Veritas Inspection Valuation Assessment Control Private Limited.
SAZ director-certification service Mr Sebastian Zuze said the national standards body had stepped up its preparations to take over the Consignment Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme upon the expiration of Bureau Veritas’ contract next year.
“You will be aware that the prerogative to say whether SAZ takes over CBCA lies with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. We can confirm as SAZ that we have not stopped in terms of building capacity in-line with our mandate, building capacity in terms of equipment — equipping our laboratory. We have bought state-of-the-art equipment to test food products and many other products that affect the health of the Zimbabwean community. We have also built capacity in terms of skills, our competence to do conformity assessment and this is an ongoing exercise,” he said.
The CBCA programme was implemented under Statutory Instrument No 132 of 2015 gazetted on 18 December 2015 by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Bureau Veritas was given a mandate to do shipment inspection, verification of documentation, sample testing and risk assessment of goods in the country of origin. However, its four-year contract ran out in February but the Ministry of Industry and Commerce extended it for another year to allow for the conclusion of tender processes that would bring new players on board.
“We can confirm that with the help and support of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we have been building capacity to make sure that we can respond to any eventuality regarding conformity assessment. I’m aware that work is being done, the ministry has already put out a tender inviting those able to do conformity assessment. So that’s their purview but we are getting ready and we continue being ready in terms of equipment and being competent,” said Mr Zuze.
SAZ is a non-governmental and a non-profit organisation which was formed in 1957 and incorporated in 1960. Its mandate includes preparing and publishing Zimbabwe National Standards, to promote an understanding of standards requirements by offering standards-based training, to provide technical services for the testing of manufactured goods and raw materials and calibration of equipment, to encourage the use of Zimbabwe standards by operating certification or registration schemes, to provide information services on national, foreign national, regional and international standards and to provide, on behalf of Government, a World Trade Organisation Technical Barriers to Trade enquiry point on standards and conformity assessment information.
Mr Zuze said the country was still a dumping area for uncertified goods and services.
“There is a certain way of thinking by some markets where there is a strong inclination where people are trying to dump goods and services into the country, which might not conform to certain standards. So we continue lobbying as per our mandate to say let’s use goods and services that have been verified either at source or by SAZ that they conform to a specific criteria reminiscence to that product or service. We have seen a greater risk of markets trying to dump products into Zimbabwe, some which are even smuggled,” he said.
Mr Zuze said the number of companies that are International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certified remains appalling.
“We have close to 300 000 registered companies in Zimbabwe and very few of them, less than one percent have been certified now. The issue about certification is very key to us so that we make goods and services from Zimbabwe competitive and generate the much needed forex.
“We need our industry and commerce to understand that the markets out there want quality goods. They want well-priced and competitive goods and the only way we can do is to conform to set criteria. We could do more in terms of certification. I would like to see at least 80 percent companies certified, making goods and services that are competitive,” he said.
Mr Zuze also said ISO certification would enable local firms to tap into export markets in light of the opening of trading through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1 July 2020.
“We want to have Africa as a one free trade area and when we look at how industry will play in that free trade area, it’s going to be based on conformity to standards because it will be based on the most competitively priced goods. So our industry and commerce must start preparing on the issue of certification . . . ,” he said.
@DNsingo
