UGANDA – The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) has renewed the Uganda National Bureau of Standards’ (UNBS’) accreditation to provide International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Management Systems Certification.
The SANAS accreditation renewal gives UNBS international credibility to provide certification services to organizations for ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (QMS).
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”.
Implementing ISO Management System Standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 is applicable to all organizations and sectors irrespective of size and complexity.
“UNBS thus invites all organizations to implement ISO management systems and acquire credible certification services,” says the regulator.
The accreditation gives Ugandan companies an opportunity to have their organizational systems and processes certified at an affordable cost, to demonstrate that their services meet international standards and are therefore capable of meeting customer expectations.
This in turn facilitates trade, by improving competitiveness of Ugandan products and services on the domestic and international market, promoting Buy Uganda Build Uganda.
In 2019, UNBS first acquired the SANAS accreditation for QMS and FSMS. The three-year accreditation has been renewed to 2025.
The UNBS Food Safety Laboratories are also accredited by SANAS, under the scope of chemistry and microbiological analysis.
Results from the laboratories are internationally recognized, and support various activities such as certification, imports inspection as well as the promotion of exports to various external markets.
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 recognized 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.
It is also recognized as a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs), the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) MRA and the SADCA MRA for specific scopes.
To be accredited by SANAS, the applicants need to submit their application via the SANAS website together with their quality manual, policies and procedures/specific methods/work instructions.
They also need to clearly define the scope of activities they are seeking accreditation for.
SANAS continues to play a crucial role in the African continent’s integration initiatives. As a key institution of South Africa’s technical infrastructure, SANAS plays a key role in locking-in exports and locking-out poor-quality goods and services from the South African market.
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