The Urgent Need For National Quality Control policy Reforms in Uganda

It is a policy and practice by the ministry of Trade and Industry that every manufacturer or producer must obtain a Q-mark Quality Mark) as a quality control tool to prevent fake products on the market.The rationale is to safeguard the health and value for money for consumers. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is mandated by the UNBS Act 2013 to enforce and monitor this. However, in the past two decades, there has been a rise in counterfeit products on the market despite UNBS’s attempt to reduce these. From a survey conducted by Gateway Research Centre in 2023, we found out that there are several domestic infant producers, especially herbal medicine dealers, cosmetics, food, and beverage processors whose legal names are different from the names known in their localities. The survey randomly sampled 50 local manufacturers from whom only about 24 per cent had their own Q-marks. 37 per cent did not have Q-marks but were paying loyalty or franchise fees to other local companies to allow them to use their names and Q-marks. 39 per cent of the surveyed manufacturers had not bothered to look for Q-marks but their goods are on the market.