TBS waves SMEs verification fees for three years

TANZANIA Bureau of Standards (TBS) has said verification for standard for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is free of charge for the first three years.

TBS said the process bill is footed by the government since it has set aside between 150m/- and 200m/- per year for the exercise.

TBS’s Director General, Mr Athuman Ngenya said on Tuesday that SMEs will start paying for the verification process fees gradually at 25 per cent after the first three years and eventually 100 per cent in the seventh year.

“The government has allocated this amount of money per year as operational costs…entrepreneurs should come forward for the exercise,” Mr Ngenya was quoted saying during a television programme.

However, he recommended that the SMEs attend training organised by TBS and Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO) to acquire knowledge on how to increase quality of their products and be competitive, while making it easy to facilitate the verification process.

The training to be operated under SIDO will focus on producing quality products, while increasing standards awareness to meet the requirements set by TBS.

“After the training SIDO will issue a letter to acknowledge the entrepreneurs’ participation to TBS in order to start product verification procedures,” said Mr Ngenya.

The Bureau was established as part of the efforts by the government to strengthen the supporting institutional infrastructure for the industry and commerce sectors of the economy.

Specifically, TBS is mandated to undertake measures for quality control of products of all descriptions and to promote standardisation in industry and commerce.