The youthful Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Bogolo Kenewendo has lauded the efforts of Botswana Bureau of Standards(BOBS) technical committees for working tirelessly to contribute towards the development of standards in Botswana.
“Today is a special day where we pause and take a moment to express our sincere gratitude to you for the work you do in the development of Botswana Standards,” said Bogolo Kenewendo, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry at a gala ceremony Thursday.
She said, “We know that achievements and successes do not happen by accident. Breakthroughs come after many hours of hard work, putting together new ideas and applying new technologies. Today we applaud your contributions, technical experise and professionalism, commitment as well as the time you voluntarily dedicate from your tight schedules to develop national standards for the socio-economic development of the country.”
Officials revealed that since inception in 1997 BOBS has published more than 1700 Botswana standards through 48 technical committees across several sectors of the economy.
109 certification licences have been issued against some of these standards, 12677 people from industry, central government, parastatals and the general public have been trained on quality, environmental, laboratory and occupational health and safety management system standards.
Additionally 46 Botswana standards are being implemented through the standards(import inspection) regulations with a view to protecting the health and safety of consumers as well as protection of the environment.
Without these standards Botswana would not have been able to meet some of its commitments as a a member of the World Trade Organization(WTO) regarding the technical barriers to trade which deals in part with development, publication and implementation of national standards, technical regulations and application of conformity assessment requirements ensuring their compliance.
Notably, BOBS was also appointed the National Enquiry Point(NEP) for the WTO TBT Agreement in 2015. As the NEP, BOBS has facilitated responses to 74 enquiries made by other members of the WTO on draft technical regulations from Botswana.
An effective National Quality Infrastructure and Technical Regulatory Framework is essential for good links to global trade, market access and export competitiveness through contributions to consumer confidence in product safety, quality, health and the environment.
BOBS officials also commended the efforts of their technical experts and students in developing local standards and assured them their efforts were not in vain and were sincerely appreciated.
“Let me also thank all students from several tertiary institutions who participated in the continental essay competition and congratulate those who wrote the best three 5 essays in the country on quite a challenging topic…. “ Role of Quality Infrastructure and Standardization in Facilitating Trade and Sustainable Development within the African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA ),” said Masego Marobela, Managing Director of BOBS.
She said, “While you did not win at continental level, your inputs to the success of the annual competition is commendable and I would like to encourage you not to falter but enter the competition again in the coming 6 years with renewed vigour for you can only improve and do better next time.”
