Bureau of Standards pledges to support local businesses 

Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) has pledged to support the local industry to produce goods and services that are competitive on the local and global markets.

Speaking on Saturday in Blantyre during the bureau’s golden jubilee commemorations, MBS acting director general Thomas Senganimalunje said as outlined in the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan, the bureau has a role to play to ensure Malawi achieves its vision of being an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialised upper-middle income nation.

“We will continue to support small and medium enterprises as well as the private sector through certification and accreditation of their products and services so that they find international markets,” he said.

Senganimalunje said despite facing some challenges, MBS has achieved a lot as witnessed through the availability of quality products and services on the market.

“When MBS was established in 1972, it was only testing pesticides residues in tobacco samples destined for export,” he said.

MBS board chairperson Davlin Chokazinga said the event provided an opportunity for the bureau to reflect and assess itself on whether it is meeting stakeholder’s expectations and also to identify areas of improvement.

“We have facilitated the development of over 1 800 Malawi standards, we are able to analyse over 70 000 samples of products in a year, verify the accuracy of over 10 000 weighing and measuring instruments in a year,” he said.

MBS was established by an Act of Parliament in October 1972 to promote metrology, standardisation and quality assurance of commodities.