By Spy Uganda
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Sanjay Tanna, has directed the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to intensify efforts to eliminate substandard products from the market while improving access to product certification services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The directive was issued during a meeting with members of the 10th National Standards Council at the Ministry of Trade headquarters in Kampala. The meeting, also attended by the Minister of State for Trade, Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, forms part of Minister Tanna’s drive to improve efficiency and strengthen the performance of agencies under the ministry.
Tanna said he had received numerous complaints from manufacturers, particularly SMEs, over delays in obtaining the UNBS Quality Mark and clearing imported goods at border points.
“I task the National Standards Council to refocus and place greater emphasis on supporting growing enterprises, especially SMEs, by reducing the time taken to acquire the Quality Mark to a maximum of two weeks. That way, Ugandans will truly feel the impact of the standards body,” Tanna said.
He stressed that UNBS is central to Uganda’s ambition of expanding the economy from about US$69 billion to US$500 billion by 2040, noting that the bureau must adopt more practical and efficient approaches to service delivery.
The minister also pledged government support to enable UNBS to effectively deliver on its mandate of protecting consumers, supporting industrialisation and facilitating trade.
During the meeting, National Standards Council Chairperson Eng. James Kalibbala highlighted achievements registered over the past year, including clearing inherited operational backlogs and significantly increasing the number of enterprises certified by UNBS from 501 to 1,270.
Kalibbala said the bureau’s budget increased from Shs62 billion to Shs130 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, enabling UNBS to develop 551 new standards and recruit 100 additional staff, among other milestones.
Despite the progress, he acknowledged that more work remains to improve service delivery and enhance the bureau’s impact on the economy.
UNBS Executive Director Eng. James Kasigwa told the meeting that the council had overseen the launch of the bureau’s Fifth Strategic Plan (2025/26–2029/30), which is aligned with Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) and the government’s Ten-Fold Economic Growth Strategy through import substitution and export promotion.
Kasigwa, however, said staffing and funding constraints continue to hamper the bureau’s operations. He revealed that although Uganda has more than 200 official and informal border points, UNBS currently has the capacity to deploy personnel to only 34 border posts.
State Minister for Trade Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi called for greater efficiency at UNBS, saying Uganda has secured export markets for local products but many businesses have failed to take advantage of those opportunities because they do not meet the required quality standards.
He urged the bureau to adopt a supportive approach towards SMEs by offering guidance and technical assistance instead of treating them as enforcement targets, saying such collaboration would help more businesses comply with standards and compete in regional and international markets.
