Kanimba calls for quality awareness

Rwandans do not understand the significance of the quality products monitored by National Bureau of Standards, believes the new Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba, who sees the need to inform the public.The RBS mandate to examine the quality of products reduces on the consumption of counterfeit products that could cause harm to nationals. Kanimba yesterday visited the RBS offices where he was briefed on the current operations of the Bureau of Standards. “Rwanda Bureau of Standards is still a new institution in the country and the population has not fully understood how important it is,” he said in interview. “I think within the government, there is a need to undertake a serious awareness campaign about the importance of the credible infrastructure for certification standards”. He noted that the economy cannot be developed to international levels without building robust infrastructure for standards of products. Meanwhile, the government carried out reforms to create other bodies under RBS which include National Standard Institute, National Certification Services, National Trade Organisation, National Inspectorate Board and National Quality Testing Laboratories. The Minister added that government would also support the implementation of the reforms to ensure that they meet their mandates. “The government has already approved the important reforms of this sector and I strongly believe that in the coming year, there will be further support to implement the reforms. The issue of financial problems will also be addressed soon,” Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, the RBS Director General, pointed out that they are in the process of developing a legal framework before the institutions start operating. Ends