TBS flags off national quality awards competition

THE Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has officially announced the kick-start of the national quality awards competition for the year 2022/23, as a serious initiative to push local products to an international standard.

The competition will focus on five sub-categories namely award to the best company of the year, best product of the year, best service of the year, the best seller of the year (international), and award to the best individual who did well on issues related to quality standards.

Briefing reporters in Dodoma recently, the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr Aristides Mbwasi said the competition contributes to quality infrastructure in the sector.

According to him, all those above-mentioned categories will be raced into two main categories namely for large-scale companies and small-scale companies.

Mr Mbwasi said that recently East African countries prepared and the government ratified the quality policy as the way of implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) therefore competition was established to make the local products of high quality and penetrate that market and beyond.

He expressed that competition is a government incentive in improving goods and services produced in the country and ensuring it meets all international standards.

“Due to the ongoing trade revolution across the bloc and continental-wise, it’s a good idea that we should have a mechanism to establish our position in the market, and that could be successful if our goods and services are of a high standard,” he said.

Additionally, Mr Mbwasi hinted that the winners of the competition will be rewarded with a cash prize, he tipped that the main benefit is a chance to promote their winning product in local and international market forums.

“The winners will not only have a chance to make their product to be known here in Tanzania, those winners will secure a chance to represent Tanzania in  East Africa Quality Award and SADC Quality Award, which could enable their product to penetrate far in the international market,” he noted.

The TBS Director General, Dr Yusuf Ngenya hinted that the 2022/23 national awards are expected to promote the business sector through the encroachment of the quality of goods and services.

“In the contemporary competitive market it is not easy to prohibit or limit the movement of goods and services due to existing agreements under World Trade Organisation (WTO), all products are free to move as long as meet the standard, so if we want our product to penetrate those markets we should have embraced the culture of high-quality products” he urged.

The competition is open for participants from both mainland and Zanzibar, organised by TBS, Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO), TPSF, Zanzibar Bureau of Standards (ZBS), TCCIA, CTI, TanTrade and Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCC).