Govt turns to commercial representatives to boost trade

Trade representatives nominated by government in different parts of the world must get involved in gathering market intelligence to support exporters, Uganda National Bureau of Standards has said. 

Speaking during the Trade Representatives’ Forum in Kampala yesterday, Mr David Livingstone Ebiru, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) executive director, said for a long time Ugandan exporters have been trading blindly without having in-depth knowledge of markets they trade in, which makes many of them fail to meet standards and specifications of consumers. 

Therefore, he said: “Going forward our trade representatives must be able to participate in doing market research, so that they give us information”, especially in the area of standards and other requirements for Ugandans to trade comfortably.  

Ugandan traders face a number of challenges with some countries blocking their goods over failure to meet required standards.  

Mr Ebiru said UNBS will, going by market information, ensure that standards are met as well as ensuring that Uganda acquires universally accepted standards. 

However, he noted that even where standards have been met, goods still face restrictions some of which are not quality related.   

Speaking at the same event, Mr Odrek Rwabwogo, the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development, said what is of value takes time to create, noting that for anyone to build a product and sell it, it must go through a product development cycle and must be followed consistently.

A number of products from Uganda, he said, have not been worked on or layered properly to reach the international markets, noting that there were ongoing works in terms of production, processing, storage, laws and regulations, which are expected to improve the export market. 

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