TBS, ZBS impress House of Reps committee

AGRICULTURE, Business and Tourism Committee in the Zanzibar House of Representatives has been impressed by the cooperation between the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Zanzibar Bureau of Standards (ZBS) in ensuring that the country’s standards are maintained so that the nation is free from being a dumping place.

Speaking during their visit to TBS offices in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, the Committee’s chairperson Yusuf Hassan Iddi urged the two institutions to continue working closely to support the government’s efforts in observing the quality standards of goods and services and save the nation from being a dumping place.

“We are hoping that the cooperation between the two public entities will continue to benefit our country, particularly in building a strong economy,” said Mr Iddi.

The committee was accompanied by the Minister of Trade and Industrial Development Zanzibar, Omar Said Shaaban and ZBS board members.

During the tour, they managed to visit the TBS offices at the Dar es Salaam port aimed at observing inspection procedures by TBS on imported products through the Pre-shipment Verification of Conformity (PVoC) and the Destination Inspection systems.

“For sure we have learnt a lot about these systems and the whole process of cargo inspection at the port,” he added

Mr Iddi congratulated Zanzibar’s President, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, for improving and facilitating ZBS’s performances, where recently the government injected 8.0bn/- to make sure that the laboratory and other measurement equipment work efficiently in checking the quality and standards of goods.

The Deputy Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Mr Exaud Kigahe said through the tour, the visitors learnt various activities done by TBS, from the inspection point where imported products are being inspected through PVoC and DI systems to make sure they comply with the country’s standards.

“As a ministry, we are pleased with the visit to see how the work is done, also extending cooperation with the mainland government,” he said.

He added that the cooperation will enable the production of quality and standard products to be able to penetrate in the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) markets.

“Through quality standard products, our countries will be able to penetrate in these common markets, which will boost both countries’ economy,” he added

Zanzibar’s Minister of Trade and Industrial Development, Mr Omary Said Shaban stressed that the purpose of the visit is to learn and share skills between the TBS and ZBS since they have been in cooperation.