THE Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has been allocating over 250m/- annually to support Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) improve their businesses for the last three years.

 Dr Athuman Ngenya, TBS Director General said in Dar es Salaam yesterday during a media briefing on the implementation of the bureau’s role during President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership.According to Dr Ngenya, in the past three years, a total of 2,106quality product licenses were issued to various producers in the country, which is equal to 105.3 percent of the set target to issue 2000 licenses.

“Among the licenses, 1,051 were given to small entrepreneurs. The products of the recipients of the 1,051 licenses are now verified and sold at ease without problems and have a chance of being sold outside Tanzania within all the member countries of the East African Community (EAC) and in Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) member states,” he said.

Dr Ngenya said a total of 5,876 stakeholders from various regions were reached and trained to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) gain the capacity to produce quality and safe products that meet the required standards to compete in the local, zonal, and international markets.

He said that in the three years since president Samia Suluhu Hassan government came into power, the bureau was able to provide 18.1bn/- in government dividends.

“We are not far behind. We are aware that the government has undertaken many projects that demand a lot of funds, for instance; the Standard Gauge Railway, the oil pipeline, Mwalimu Nyerere dam which has enabled the supply of electricity; we have made sure to provide the government with dividends to ensure no project stalls,” he said.

Dr Ngenya said in efforts to ensure the market has quality products the bureau performed Pre-Shipment Verification of Conformity to Standards (PVoC) and destination inspection for goods imported into the country.

“For the last three years, a total of 100,851 consignments were inspected before entry into the country which is equal to 99 percent of the set target to inspect 102,083 consignments. Also, a total of 151,570 goods from abroad were inspected after arrival into the country which is equal to 77 percent of the set target to inspect 197,417 goods,” he said.

Dr Ngenya stated that in efforts to broaden the bureau’s reach and ensure the public has access to its services, TBS has started the construction of its state-of-the-art laboratories in the Lake Zone, central zone, and northern zone regions.

“The laboratory in the Lake Zone is expected to serve six regions including Mwanza, Kagera, Mara, Geita, Shinyanga, and Simiyu. The northern zone laboratory is expected to serve 4 regions namely: Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, and Manyara. The bureau is also implementing the construction of the headquarters and laboratory of the authority – Viwango House - Dodoma that will serve three central zones regions of Singida, Tabora, and Dodoma and other nearby regions,” he said.