The Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) and ZimTrade yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, geared towards improving the quality of local manufactured products to meet export standards.
By Tinotenda Munyukwi
Speaking on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, ZimTrade chief executive officer, Sithembile Pilime said standards were central to the export market and, therefore, the mandate of both organisations has always been intertwined, necessitating the need to always work together.
“Standards are very key in the export market, for a product to sell in the export market it must meet certain quality and other regulatory requirements, so the role of the standards body and ours both promote trade and trade development, hence the need to sign this MoU ,” she said.
The MoU succeeds the first one signed between the two organisations in 2011.
Pilime added that going forward, both organisations would facilitate educational workshops in which exporters and prospective exporters benefit, through gaining knowledge on how to improve production quality thus guaranteeing enhanced competitiveness of the country’s manufacturing and horticultural sectors.
SAZ director general, Eve Gadzikwa said the agreement was an affirmation of the vision held by African Leaders in 2017 to support intra-Africa and world trade.
“The year 2017 is a significant year in which African Union leaders declared as ‘The Year of Quality Infrastructure in Support of Intra-Africa and World Trade’ and I am happy this MoU resonates with this declaration and signals our joint commitment to this cause,” she said.
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“Zimbabwe is crafting a National Regulatory and Quality Infrastructure Policy, a critical component of ensuring that national standards institutions such as ZimTrade are fully capacitated to drive exports and the MOU will help SAZ to strengthen our cooperation and enhance our partnership through greater engagement of both our staff for exports.”
She, however, warned that standards were only effective if they are being utilised and, therefore, there was need for conformity assessment tools.
“Standards are only effective if they are being utilised, therefore, conformity assessment tools such as inspection, testing and certification are used to demonstrate compliance to standards either in the voluntary or mandatory sphere,” she said.
The signing of this MoU is expected to boost Zimbabwe’s exports and assist in closing the widening trade deficit that has seen the country importing far much more than it is exporting for manufactured goods.
