Tanzania Bureau of Standards Act, 3/75

The Act establishes a National Standards Institute which is to recommend rules/conditions related to specifications, codes of practice, safety, trade descriptions, sampling methods, and testing methods about:

1. Production of a commodity,
2. Any component, raw material, machinery, instrument or apparatus used directly or indirectly in production of a commodity.

In section 17 of the Act, the Minister for Commerce and Industry may declare, upon recommendation from the Board, compulsory standards for a commodity, or for manufacture, production, processing or treatment of any commodity. In addition, several steps are set forth for producers to voluntarily certify their products with TBS so as to notify consumers of their products' quality.

Effectively, the Act and its accompanying regulations have established three processes for implementation of the National Standards Institute (Tanzania Bureau of Standards) standards. First, a producer's product may be certified as meeting particular standards set forth for that product. Certification is accomplished when the producer acquires a license from the Ministry. The manufacturers/sellers must utilise the standards mark (showing that the commodity meets the standard) if they are licensed by the Ministry. It is a violation of the law to sell a commodity with a standard mark if the commodity or process is not actually licensed and/or not in compliance with the established standard (see the Standards Certification Regulations, GN 91/81).

Second, where the particular product does not have a "standard" but the manufacturer or dealer of a product would like to demonstrate that the product or its process meets certain minimum quality standards, the producer may apply for Tested Product Certificate, using a product specification which is approved by the Specification Approval Committee (SAC) of the National Standards Institute (see Tested Products Regulations, GN 137/84). In particular, the applicant is to refer to national or international standards used as a basis for the specification and the Tanzania Bureau of Standards is to draft a scheme of inspection and test (SIT) with which the producer will be required to comply in order to hold the Tested Product Certificate. TBS also has the authority to carry out surprise inspections to ensure that the conditions of the certificate are being implemented.

Third, compulsory standards may be declared by TBS. The Standards (Preliminary Notice of Recommendation of Compulsory Standards) Notice, GN 138/84, announced several of these standards.

Standards are relevant both for the products themselves as well as the manufacturing processes. Some of the specific process standards are discussed in the section on water pollution, above. In addition, a full catalogue of all TBS standards is available from TBS.