The Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) has initiated procedures to set up common quality standards on banana wine production.

Dr Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, the Director General of RSB, said the banana wine industry is characterised by traditional processing methods that have been deemed unhealthy.

He was speaking at a stakeholder's meeting in Kigali yesterday.

"We need to move from traditional processing where people still use feet to crush bananas. This has health risks. We are working out a deal to provide affordable equipment to process the wine,” he said.

The packaging of the wine has also come into question.

They collect empty branded bottles of beer and put in wine which they then sell on the market.

This does not only open them up to court cases over copyrights but also fools clients who may mistake the wine for beer.

To increase the quality and consistency of the wine, processors were advised to differentiate their products according to the type of wine or the variety of bananas used.

There are new regulations and law enforcement organs will intervene to stop those with no licenses or those with substandard quality.

Prof. Munyanganizi Bikoro, a banana wine expert proposed different categories of banana wines based on their alcohol percentage that can range from zero - 14 per cent.

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