The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has intensified efforts to monitor the quality of maize grain and flour exports to ensure conformity to standards.
UNBS advises every maize grain and flour exporter to obtain copies of key maize 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.
According to UNBS, specified requirements for maize exporters include;
- Identifying a yard (motorable, secure, dust and mud free) assembling point for the trucks to be
sampled.
- Providing sealable trucks for safe custody of the sampled products.
- Trucks whose results are found to comply with the standard shall be released to proceed to the
border under UNBS seal.
- Trucks whose results are found non-compliant shall be retained for further management in line with
the agreed procedures of handling non-conforming products.
- Every exporter shall be required to present a copy of the ownership of the consignment.
- Every exporter shall be required to present a copy of a valid UNBS Certification Permit.
- 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).
- The client shall meet the cost of handling casual workers during the sampling.
- The cost of laboratory analysis of the product samples shall be borne by the client.
- The sampling process shall take place between 9.00am and 1.00pm.
- The safety of the UNBS seal, sealed truck and its contents remains the responsibility of the owner
of the consignment (Exporter).
- Self-policing is highly encouraged i.e. the Exporter is independently responsible for keeping and
maintaining order and security of the sealed consignment.
“You are advised to ensure that your products are of the right quality and quantity 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,” UNBS says.
