The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has pledged to provide both monetary and non-monetary support to manufacturers of hand sanitisers and disinfectants, as the country continues grappling with the global Covid-19 pandemic. 

The standards regulator said the support would enhance the quality and volume of production, of the much sought after products, for both the local and export markets. 

“We want to enhance the competitiveness of the SME with support from the private sector foundation, but manufacturers have to up their game first. Any products that flaunt the quality specifications will not be considered,” the UNBS manager for standards, Prossy Nabaggala said. 

She added that manufacturers with substandard products on the market would be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and would not be allowed to benefit from the program either. 

Nabaggala said funds were allocated to UNBS to ensure that manufacturers of Covid-19 materials, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are supported to satisfy the quality requirements, as the fight against Covid-19 spread continues. 

In June last year, the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) announced the creation of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Resilience Response Program in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. 

The $8.3m was meant to extend immediate relief, recovery and resilience interventions to counter the impact of COVID-19 in the country. 

The fund was also partly meant to qualify private laboratories to embrace and adopt standards and quality certification through UNBS, to improve the quality of goods for domestic and export markets. 

According to PSFU, the program complements efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 and support the survival, recovery and resilience of enterprises impacted by the negative economic effects of COVID-19. 

Fred Ssekamatte, the PSFU project coordinator said the fund is meant to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs, through the private sector foundation. 

“In this season, we want to see as many manufacturers empowered as possible because we all need these products as long as Covid-19 remains,” he said. 

In March 2020, the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) promised to convert at least 7.3million litres of Alcohol that had been stored up by their members, into affordable sanitisers and disinfectants. 

State minister for investment, Evelyn Anite said since manufacturers were changing their business plan to manufacturing sanitisers, the government would give them tax incentives like corporation tax and excise duty waivers. 

She said the locally-made sanitisers and disinfectants would be affordable to allow Ugandans access them easily in the fight against Covid-19. 

Presently, there are more than 500 companies authorized by the standards regulator to produce hand sanitisers and disinfectants in Uganda. 

Complaints 

During the engagement with stakeholders, Dan Gonza, a manufacturer implored the regulator to reduce product certification test fees, which he said are so high. 

“This is especially needed for manufacturers with products that need multiple testing before they can be satisfied,” he said. 

He said the regulator should also increase monitoring of the market to weed out imported substandard sanitisers and disinfectants, which are frustrating local manufacturers because they are very cheap as well. 

Since April 2020, the demand for hand sanitisers has gone up as countries push to control the outbreak of the global coronavirus disease.