Over the past week, reports emerged of counterfeits of popular alcoholic beverages and cosmetic products finding their way into the Rwandan market. Amidst the reports, some members of the public put Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) on the spot since its the body charged with ensuring all the commodities on the local market meet the required standards. The New Times’ Collins Mwai caught up with Phillip Nzaire, the director quality assurance and inspection at the standards body:

The New Times reported cases of counterfeit products circulating the Rwandan market; have the reports reached your desk?

It is true we have received cases of substandard products on the market, particularly whiskies by Johnnie Walker.But as we have said before, issues of counterfeits are not primarily our concern. The responsible organ is currently following up the matter considering that it was not about substandard but rather counterfeits.

There are also concerns over the authenticity of some of the cosmetic products in beauty shops around the country, is that part of your concerns or not?

On the issue of cosmetics, the Minister for Health called a news conference and we also made public announcements on these products.

This follows ministerial instructions on banned and restricted ingredients in cosmetics. What is going to follow is an action plan on a wipe-out programme for counterfeit products.

It is being developed in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and implementation will be done jointly. We already have a plan, we are awaiting funding and approval. There seems to be limited understanding of responsibilities and tasks on such grave issues. Is it that there is a kind of confusion in mandates?

There are no overlaps in mandates of institutions; the laws are very clear and specific. There is a law on intellectual property and that is where counterfeits come in.

It is very clear on who is responsible for elimination of and guarding against counterfeits in this country. It is a police issue especially International Police (Interpol) as they have a department that is responsible for fighting counterfeits.

But, that said, the primary responsibility lies with the genuine producer; they are supposed to know what their products in a specific market are.

They are supposed to alert officials in a particular country where their products have been registered and are protected.

The genuine producer must have their products protected in particular countries where their commodities are traded. It involves protecting the design and patent, in that case, the country is supposed to protect them.

In our case, it is the Police who are at the forefront and also cooperate with other agencies such as ourselves, we have officers stationed at the entry point of products and inspect cargo.

The challenge is that you cannot tell what is genuine and what is counterfeit unless you have been alerted by the responsible person. So what do your officers look out for during the regular market surveillance exercises?

In market surveillance we do not target producers; we only target products in terms of quality.

We sample where we suspect that a particular product may not be conforming to standards. We do that at local plants, borders and even at the market level.

Since the responsibility of addressing the issue of counterfeits seems to be a bit unclear, what does your office do about it?

We try to make sure that the public is aware of what is acceptable in the market in terms of standards.

The media have the role to facilitate in the dissemination of information and we partner with them as much as possible.

We, however, caution traders, when they go out to procure stocks, they should ensure that they meet quality standards and are from genuine producers.

If they have established that some products are not genuine, they should avoid them at all costs; such products can lead to massive losses in the long-run and possible loss of life. Are you afraid that some of the counterfeits and substandard products could be on the Rwandan market as a result of smuggling activities as has been often reported?

This is a free market economy; through trade liberalisation every trader who is interested in a product is allowed to go out of the country to procure it or produce it locally.

But in production and trade, we have to consider components of quality, if you do not, you are killing business.

What we say is that it is not wrong to trade in any commodity; it is, however, wrong to trade in commodities you are well aware are substandard, smuggled or counterfeited. We are seeing growth in a variety of products on our markets from a range of producers, is there a chance that substandard goods could be on the rise too?

It is not only an issue that concerns the Rwandan Government, it is a global issue. Whenever there is a rise in crime, governments devise ways to face them head on.

We have been planning ahead to reinforce the existing structures and workforce to face the challenge. Above all there has also been a proposed review of the laws where the inspectorate part will be a specific independent organ. In that case we see a clear line of division between an inspector and a service provider.

That way, we hope to see the new body with enough powers operating at our border points as an improvement to what we have now. Do you have regional frameworks to address the issue on a larger scale?

We have frameworks such as the East African Community legal instruments that allow us to operate with ease and facilitate trade.

Those instruments will be integrated so that there is harmonisation of procedures and bilateral agreements and coalitions turning the region into one bloc and builds sovereignty of the region and capacity of individual countries.

Currently, countries in the region have their own ways of doing things.

Overall, has there been an improvement or decline in compliance to quality standards by producers and traders?

Indicators show that there is a trend of improvement largely due to awareness programmes directed at our business community, private sector and consumers.

There is generally improved compliance, there are fewer complaints and non-compliances compared to previous times. How can an ordinary member of the public report substandard goods in the market?

We have a website where we make all the necessary information available, we have national inquiry points and a toll free number 3250 where all the complaints, concerns and comments can be made. Any other comments?

The media have a very big role to play; it would be very useful to the consumers and the public in general. If we could have more airtime and space, we would do much more.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw