Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) has embarked on a massive campaign to sensitize the general public, manufacturers and the businesses people on the ‘management system.’ A management system for a business institution or an enterprises, fine-tunes business activities to improve the quality of products. During the process, certification is done as a third-party attestation related to products, processes and systems or persons. The main objective of certification of management system is to provide confidence for customers, satisfaction of stakeholders, providing of consistency in operation, improvement of financial results and international recognition. “Management systems creates a basis for good products so with out the management system, there is lack of consistence in product quality,” said Eugenia Niwenkunda in the charge of certification. Rwanda has started preparing for the systems accreditation for the laboratories. Laboratories are accredited against this system. “RBS is carrying out proficiency tests which involve comparing with other laboratories in the region and also preparing for international accreditation,” Niwenkunda said. One the international certifications to be reorganized is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO has set up international standards in regard to management system such as occupational health and safety to manage risks and minimize accidents at work especially in the construction sector. Among other standards set by ISO include standards in the environment management system, food safety management system and medical laboratory management system. However, RBS still encounters major challenges in ensuring the effectiveness of these standards most especially because it is a new concept and people are not aware of the standards. The implementation of these standards is still a big problem and ignorance of the standards as well. The management system standards will complement the product quality mark which was launched last year to promote the quality of the products as well. Ends
