UNBS accredited by South African system to join multinational service providers

By George Mangula

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has been accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) to provide International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Management Systems Certification.

The accreditation comes at a time when a growing number of Ugandan companies are seeking ISO management systems certification to benefit from the nascent oil and gas sector.

According to ISO, a management system is “the way in which an organization manages the inter-related parts of its business in order to achieve its objectives including, among others, product or service quality, operational efficiency, environmental performance, health and safety in the workplace.”

The SANAS accreditation means that UNBS is now internationally recognised to provide certification services to organisations for Food Safety Management Systems (ISO 22000) and Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001).

UNBS joins acclaimed multinational service providers of ISO management systems certification that comply with international requirements.

The UNBS Executive Director, Dr. Ben Manyindo said: “The accreditation means that UNBS has been accepted and recognised at international level to offer ISO management systems certification in a competent, consistent and impartial manner.”

“This accreditation will give Ugandan companies an opportunity to certify their organisational systems and processes at an affordable cost to demonstrate that their services meet international standards and therefore capable of meeting customer expectations,” Dr. Manyindo said.

“The certificates issued by UNBS are now recognised worldwide thereby facilitating international trade. It gives us a competitive advantage in a market dominated by large foreign multinationals. We intend to use this accreditation to expand our market share of ISO certification,” Dr. Manyindo added.

This accreditation adds to the UNBS chemistry and microbiology laboratories which are internationally accredited by SANAS.

SANAS is a signatory to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) which gives it world-wide recognition as a competent body for carrying out independent evaluation of certification bodies against recognised standards. International accreditation agreements provide a mechanism that allows accredited certificates to be accepted around the world which reduces the risk of products and services being rejected in international markets.