Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has today Tuesday resumed operations aimed at cracking down on fake and substandard products on the local market.
These operations have been directed towards hardware operators and manufacturers, aimed at filtering fake building materials out of the market.
Security operatives, in conjuction with UNBS officials started this campaign in Makindye, by visiting every hardware shop, and they are expected to climax in Kampala central.
UNBS spokesperson Victoria Namutebi Wamala says the agency has given an ultimatum of one month, to all hardware dealers, including manufactures, wholesalers and retailers to self regulate and stay away from dealing in inferior building items.
“We will be confiscating all inferior items which do not meet the required standards on the market. As UNBS, we are obliged to protect Ugandans and ensure that they use standards items,” says Namutebi.
Substandard items will be ejected forcefully off the market and dealers prosecuted in courts of law, according to UNBS.
Namutebi also reveals that efforts are underway, to extend this crucial campaign to all regions of Uganda, in order to cleanse the market of substandard items.
According to statistics from UNBS, substandard products and items have flooded Uganda’s market and threaten to outcompete the genuine and authentic ones.
Namutebi further notes that hardware factories and dealers were instructed to self regulate and operate according to the stipulated standards, else face serious repercussions.
They were given an ultimatum of up to January 31st, 2022, to take these products off the market. According to the operation results so far, it is well understood that these products are still on the market illegally.
In April 2021, UNBS rolled out regional awareness campaigns targeting hard ware munufacturers, dealers and buyers, ahead of the proposed crackdown on substandard products.
After the nationwide sensitization, the UNBS’ Market surveillance team would then start enforcing the standards across the country to seize and destroy non-compliant hardware products.
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