Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) has said it is soon starting the testing of chemical materials which include cement and iron bars.

The process will put an end to the dependence on regional standardisation offered by regional bureaus specifically Kenya Bureau of Standards.

For chemical products from abroad, RBS top officials said they have been relying on "certificate of analysis” issued by the countries of origin of the products.

Currently the bureau tests mainly biochemical and food products manufactured both within and outside the country.

In a recent interview with Business Times, Dr .Mark  Cyubahiro Bagabe, the Director General of RBS said the process will begin before the end of this year. RBS has already put in place all the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the testing exercise.

The director also pointed out that it was critical for his institution to begin testing products directly related to human health due to limited laboratory capability.

"We have been building our capacity and we are progressing well. We started with food products. When resources are limited you have to get the priorities right,” Bagabe observed.

RBS is also set to certify more products on the market with the quality mark this year, increasing the number from two to thirty products.

We are translating all that we are doing into business.  This means that the product tested can be exported and will not be subjected to retesting if we do our job very well,” he added. 

To strengthen its operations and promote trade, four labs at the RBS will also get international accreditation.
This will translate business into bigger markets abroad,” Bagabe said.

Apart from products originating from the regional (EAC, COMESA) harmonised standards, RBS currently has only 624 products that are locally certified.

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