Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) has said the delay in inspecting importers’ products is not intentional and has appealed for patience from the business community.It explains that the delay is intended to provide ample time to inspectors to ensure detection of substandard products. The response from Bureau comes days after a meeting between officials from Rwanda Revenue Authority and importers in which the latter complained of delays.Importers said RBS takes seven to ten days before finalising the inspection to give traders the green light to start selling their goods; a move they claimed had negatively affected them.However, RBS insists that the slow process is necessary pointing out that the time taken is determined by the scientific verification, appealing to importers to be patient. “We can never delay to release consignments intentionally. We work to ensure that the samples we take to laboratories for testing provide satisfactory results,” Phillip Nzaire, the Director for Quality Assurance at RBS told The New Times.The Vice Chairperson of Rwanda Freight Forwarders Association, Fred Seka, complained that the problem was not necessarily in the delay, but rather capacity hurdles for RBS to effectively carry out inspection timely and effectively.“RBS has done a great job and I think that the delay is not the big issue. They do not have enough qualified staff to inspect the large consignments that come in and neither do they have all the necessary equipment that can test specific goods,” Seka asserted.Nzaire admitted that RBS faces shortage of staff, particularly along the small borders where goods might find way into the country without inspection. However, he said the standards body was in the process of improving its services to satisfy all importers.
