Importers will have to wait a little bit longer for the standards body to hire more firms to conduct pre-shipment inspections of goods destined for Rwanda from different countries across the globe. 

All goods destined for Rwanda must first be inspected from the exporting country before they are cleared for shipment to ensure they conform to standards to avoid dumping and importation of dangerous products.

The exercise is done under the Imports Products Conformity Assessment to Standards (IPCA) scheme. About six months ago, the Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) said it had selected three firms (that it did not name) and was holding discussions with them on the terms of the job.

This followed a move by RSB to contract more companies to handle the exercise, which was being done by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), a Switzerland-based firm, arguing that it wanted to ensure efficiency and cover diverse countries.

Importers had also complained about the SGS, saying it was overcharging them and slow in conducting inspections. The firm was contracted by RSB over two years ago.

Its contract expired in third quarter of 2015 after it was extended twice; in March for four months, and then later for two more months.

"Our target is to have as many firms as possible to boost service delivery and ensure efficiency,” Dr Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, the RSB director general, said at the beginning of last year.

However, the process of contracting new firms seems to have hit a snag, leaving stakeholders guessing.

Philip Nzaire, the director of quality assurance at RSB, said the negotiations are still ongoing, noting that the selected companies were not happy with some aspects of the contract.

"So far, we have failed to agree to their demands,” he said last week. Four firms had applied for the job advertised early last year.

Nzaire said that presently RSB is conducting destination inspection (when goods arrive in the country).

The inspectors were to be based in Asia - especially China; Europe, Australia, America, Africa, and the Middle East.

Nzaire said last month the standards watchdog met stakeholders to review the programme.

"We are again going to call these service providers for another round of negotiations soon (by the end of February)… the implementation will depend on the outcome of the negotiations,” Nzaire said. He added that they want terms that will be fair for importers.

"If we agree on the terms with the inspection firms, then we will sign the deal. Otherwise, we will continue with the current arrangement because we don’t want to sign an agreement that will put importers at a disadvantage,” he said in an interview with Business Times. There are about 90 importers that need the services.

John Mugisha, an importer, said the delay is affecting them. He is, however, supportive of the pre-shipment inspection, saying it creates a fair playing ground by guarding against sub-standard goods.

"I support the idea because it facilitates the ease of doing business through increased efficiency and competitiveness. Hiring of more inspectors will improve the exercise…,” Mugisha said.

Under the IPCA scheme, a firm(s) certified by RSB inspects all products bound for Rwanda from the country of origin before they are shipped. If the goods meet standards, they are cleared and the importer issued a certificate of conformity to standards or rejects them if they don’t.

business@newtimes.co.rw