By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has intensified efforts to monitor the quality of maize
grain and flour exports exported from Uganda.
Sylivia Kirabo, the Principal Public Relations Officer of UNBS said in a notice to all maize exporters that the move aims to to ensuring conformity to standards.
She ordered exporters to obtain copies of key size standards and comply with the specified requirements.
“The governing Uganda Standards include: US EAS 2:2017, Maize grains — Specification (3rd Edition),
US EAS 44:2019, Milled maize (corn) products — Specification (4th Edition) and US EAS 38:2014, the Labelling of pre-packaged foods – General requirements,” a Friday, August 25, 2023 statement by Kirabo read in parts
According to the bureau, the specified requirements include;
1.
Identifying a yard (motorable, secure, dust and mud free) assembling point for the trucks to be
sampled.
2.
Providing sealable trucks for safe custody of the sampled products.
3.
Trucks whose results are found to comply with the standard shall be released to proceed to the
border under UNBS seal.
4.
Trucks whose results are found non-compliant shall be retained for further management in line with
the agreed procedures of handling non-conforming products.
5.
Every exporter shall be required to present a copy of the ownership of the consignment.
6.
Every exporter shall be required to present a copy of a valid UNBS Certification Permit.
7.
Every exporter must have his/ her product packaging clearly and indelibly labelled and traceable with the Name of Product, Name and Address of the Manufacturer/Packer, Brand Name and/or Registered Trade Mark, Batch, Net Weight in SI units, Storage Instructions, the statement “food for
human consumption”, Country of Origin, Date of Manufacture, Expiry Date and instructions for disposal of used package (Ref: US EAS 2 and US EAS 44 and US EAS 38).
8.
The client shall meet the cost of handling casual workers during the sampling.
9.
The cost of laboratory analysis of the product samples shall be borne by the client.
10. The sampling process shall take place between 9.00am and 1.00pm.
11. The safety of the UNBS seal, sealed truck and its contents remains the responsibility of the owner of the consignment (Exporter).
12. Self-policing is highly encouraged i.e. the Exporter is independently responsible for keeping and
maintaining order and security of the sealed consignment.
NOTICE TO MAIZE GRAIN AND FLOUR EXPORTERS
Furthermore, the bureau urged exporters to ensure quality and right quantity of their products before they are presented for sampling.
“Should any truck disappear from the parking yard or any Exporter violates the above guidelines shall nullify the whole exercise and UNBS shall withdraw from this arrangement,” the bureau warned.
The development comes at a time when exportation of maize grains and flour from Uganda has been rejected and banned by two neighbouring East African countries of Kenya and South Sudan. According to the two governments, the ban is due to the poor quality of maize products on the Ugandan side.
In June, the South Sudan Standard Agency impounded over 70 trucks transporting maize flour from Uganda after it claimed that maize flour from Uganda was contaminated with aflatoxin.
In March 2021, the Kenyan government banned Uganda’s maize exports after the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) in Kenya said the maize contained mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins, which can cause cancer. The ban was later lifted although any maize dealers in Uganda claim that the ban is still on.
