UGANDA – The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives has recognized the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Microbiology Laboratory for Excellence in its Testing Services in Uganda.
The Certificate of Award was presented to UNBS at the Africa Industrialization Day Celebrations recently held at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
The UNBS Microbiology Laboratory is accredited to international standards ISO 17025 by SANAS.
SANAS is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), which grants it international recognition as a qualified authority for conducting impartial assessments of certifying bodies in comparison to accepted standards.
International accreditation agreements offer a method that enables accredited certificates to be recognized globally, lowering the possibility that goods and services may be rejected in global marketplaces.
Additionally, it is acknowledged as a signatory to the MRAs for certain scopes of the SADCA MRA, the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC), and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
The applicants must submit their application via the SANAS website together with their quality manual, policies, and procedures/specific methods/work instructions in order to be accredited by SANAS.
Furthermore, they must specify the precise parameters they are seeking accreditation for.
The UNBS has recently embarked on decentralizing its services by establishing laboratories in different parts of the country.
It commissioned its first laboratory in Gulu City in July 2022, to serve Northern Uganda followed by a second one in Eastern Uganda’s Mbale City. Plans are currently underway to take one to Western Uganda.
Last week, the Bureau held the first-ever Inter-Laboratory Comparison on Calibration at its Head Office in Kampala.
The workshop by UNBS was aimed at building technical competence in the measurement capacity of Private and Public Laboratories in Uganda.
“The new UNBS National Metrology Laboratory and Calibration Laboratory that nears completion will have a bigger and better capacity which will make UNBS a center of excellence not only in Uganda but on the African continent,” said Ms. Patricia Bageine Ejalu, Deputy ED-Standards, UNBS.
Mr. Yasin Lemeriga, the Manager Certification at UNBS expressed that they were looking forward to having a number of laboratories enroll for the Laboratory recognition scheme, with hopes that they will meet the international standards and get accreditation to offer calibration services.
Africa Industrialization Day
Africa Industrialization Day is observed annually on November 20.
It’s a period when governments and organizations in several African countries consider how to accelerate the continent’s industrialization.
It’s also a chance to highlight in the international media the issues and difficulties associated with industrialization in Africa.
In July 1989, the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) conducted its 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During this session, which was conducted on November 20th, the Assembly publicized “Africa Industrialization Day” as part of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000).
Since then, the United Nations System has organized activities on that day all across the globe to increase public awareness of the significance of Africa’s industrialization and the difficulties the region faces.
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