Has KEBS lived up to its billing, keeping standards high?

NAIROBI, KENYA: Most of the products and services on the market are approved by KEBS. Looking at the standards delivered to society, one can acknowledge the effort made by KEBS in enhancing quality.

Even though we have few cases of counterfeit products in the market, KEBS has sealed major loopholes that can undermine product quality .However, the damage does not surpass the benefits achieved by KEBS in ensuring high quality, thus keeping the standards high.

The organisation has ensured consumers will now be able to check the authenticity of goods and products through a short text message to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) in a renewed fight against fake products.

It gave manufacturers and traders a special identity numbers for the products and consumers would use the code to SMS the agency through 20023 to identify genuine products. This meant that it would be difficult for unscrupulous traders to generate the unique permit numbers, upping stakes in the fight against fakes and counterfeits.

The SMS service would allow consumers to tip the agency on bogus traders that use of fake quality marks via their mobile phones. KEBS also put in place measures to ensure all consignments of used goods to be inspected and certified in the country of origin and issued with a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) by KEBS appointed inspection agents.

According to KEBS, any consignment of second hand clothing and shoes that does not come with a Certificate of Conformity shall be rejected, seized and destroyed at the importer's expense. To enhance quality standards, the standardization body has heightened its effort in eliminating sub-standard goods in the market.

Ms. Kemei is a business lady in Kakamega