Kebs targets substandard goods from Tanzania

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) is stepping up its fight against importation of substandard merchandise with a plan to build a testing laboratory along the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Managing director Charles Ongwae said the lab is part of security measures meant to protect Kenya from unfair trade by ensuring that all goods are inspected for quality assurance.

“All imports from Tanzania including cereals will be inspected before they find their way into the country. This will ensure level playing field for traders and protect consumers from harmful products,” he said.

Kenya's borders are highly porous and are blamed for slowing the fight against influx of substandard goods as traders use informal routes to bring in uninspected commodities.

Mr Ongwae, who was speaking in Mombasa last week, said various agencies would be housed at the border point to be set up in Taveta to control the flow of goods and other products from the neighbouring country.

Tighten port inspection

The Kebs boss also said the agency was tightening screening procedures at the Mombasa port.

Kebs is now inspecting all containers with imported iron sheets after it found that unscrupulous traders were shipping in substandard products, he said.

“We have increased surveillance at the port and using our intelligence sources we are now able to detect containers loaded with these products that are mainly imported from China. As a rule at the moment, all containers with iron sheets must be screened,” he said.

In the past one year, Kebs says it has intercepted and destroyed 167,000 substandard metal sheets valued at more than Sh120 million at current market prices.

The agency blames Kenyan traders for the vice, accusing them of greed since they want to import cheap products and dispose them at exorbitant prices locally, earning themselves huge profits.

“The problem is actually not the source markets but importers who give the wrong specifications for the products they are importing,” he said.