More effort needed in fighting fake goods

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) will no longer allow improved charcoal stoves manufacturers to operate without certification effective January 2018.
At a recent event organised by Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking and World Wide Fund for Nature in Kampala, UNBS revealed that the mandatory certification is aimed at fighting fake stoves that have flooded the Ugandan market.
Informed estimates say close to 2,000 people die annually in Uganda as a result of indoor pollution due to lack of clean cooking solutions. This is grave.
With this kind of situation, we believe the move by the standards bureau to crack down on manufacturers of fake stoves is a very welcome development. However, we hasten to say that the war on fake stoves producers must be taken to all other unscrupulous manufacturers because much more effort is needed to safeguard Ugandans against consuming substandard goods.
There is an increasing outcry from the public over fake products on the market. The products, among them, foodstuffs, fuel, spare parts, medicines, cosmetics, machinery and a whole range of other consumer and capital goods. As a correlation of this, a few months ago civil society organisations and Ministry of Health officials expressed concern over fake malaria testing kits that were flooding the market. They released a study which indicated that some rapid diagnostic test kits, used in confirmation of malaria, were fake.
Much as government’s initiatives such as Pre-Export Verification of Conformity to Standards (PEVCS) have been introduced to ensure goods are inspected from their countries of origin, some people still import inferior goods. And others manufacture poor quality products. PEVCS is a good move provided it can be trusted to yield the desired results. But such measures may not stop dishonest people from dealing in substandard goods; and UNBS alone is not enough to fight the vice.
To fight fake products, we believe there should be more teamwork, and more effort. UNBS should work with other agencies such as KCCA, URA, police, the army, National Drug Authority and trader associations. But most importantly, all Ugandans must be part of the fight.
If we must protect our consumers, we need concerted efforts to enforce standards of hygiene and quality by punitively punishing those dealing in fake goods. Corruption, too, must be fought sternly so as not to allow businesspeople outwit set procedures.
There is also great need to regulate all consumer and capital supplies if we are to combat low-grade goods. It is, therefore, essential to instantly strengthen the necessary laws to help stop production and importation of substandard products.
And unless the entire country fights the vice, Ugandans shall continue consuming inferior goods.