Uganda and South Sudan through the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) together with the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) are set to harmonise sampling, test methods and certification processes to enhance bi-lateral trade between the two countries.
The resolution is one of the many reached at, during a meeting between the two National Standards Bodies held on 11th January 2024, in Nimule.
The engagement led by both the UNBS Ag. Executive Director, Nangalama Daniel Richard Makayi and the SSNBS Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Kuorwel Kuai Kuorwel, came after a recent standoff between Uganda and South Sudan over maize exports from Uganda, which saw a Joint Ugandan Delegation led by the Senior Presidential Advisor and Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) travel to Elegu-Nimule, in 2023 to negotiate release of impounded Ugandan Trucks with maize grain and flour in South Sudan.
Since then, UNBS embarked on batch sampling and laboratory analysis of maize grain and flour exports to S. Sudan in designated sampling yards in Central (Afrokai in Matugga), Eastern (Uhuru Parking, Mbale) and Northern Uganda (Layibi in Gulu), utilising the UNBS Central and regional testing laboratories. Since this
intervention, 346 out of the 367 samples representing 94.2% of the total maize flour samples analysed, complied with the standard requirements and were from 23 companies certified by UNBS.
The two National Standards Bodies have thus agreed that;
- All products covered by Compulsory Standards including cereals and cereal products (mainly maize flour) must be certified by UNBS prior to being exported to South Sudan from Uganda.
- A Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) certificate from competent authorities in Uganda MUST accompany other products exported to South Sudan like fruits and vegetables, dairy products like fresh milk and yorghurt, chicken and chicken products, fish and fish products.
- A technical team from the two standards bodies to be set up to harmonise sampling, test methods and certification processes, among other resolutions.
“UNBS therefore urges all manufacturers and traders intending to export goods to South Sudan to ensure that they undergo the UNBS Certification process and obtain a certification permit and a SPS certificate from a competent authority where applicable, for the smooth flow of their goods and services to South Sudan.
To apply for certification, manufacturers and traders should obtain the respective standards from the UNBS website and ensure that their products meet those standards, have a Tax Identification Number (TIN), E-Mail Address, and Certificate of Incorporation from Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Product process flow chart and product labels and markings,” UNBS says in a statement.
