By Edrisa Ssentongo
Uganda has sent a strong and unified message to international buyers during the International Buyers Week that the country has undergone major transformation in how it regulates, certifies guarantees the quality of of it’s export products.
This commitment was delivered last week during the standards and quality panel where government regulators, standards bodies and sector leaders outlined sweeping reforms designed to make Uganda export system more predictable, reliable and globally competitive.
The session was moderated by Maria Bisamaza the Manager for Quality and Standards at the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development who emphasized the committee’s leadership in driving long over due regulatory modernization. “As a system we are strengthening our reforms and accelerating and Uganda is ready to serve a trusted Long term Partner in a global value chains, Maria Bisamaza said.
According to Bisamaza the committee on exports will drastically reduce rejection rates, streamline approvals and Lower operation costs particularly for small and medium exporters
The Keynote Speaker Martha Byanyima an internationally respected sanitary and physio sanitary expert revealed that Uganda is entering a new era of coordinated science based regulation and that government is finalizing the food safety and agriculture authority to unify and coordinate all food safety, plant health and animal health ” For the first time Uganda will have a single accountable system that international buyers can rely on, Martha Byanyima said.
PACEID is at the centre of standard reform and over three years PACEID has been the engine behind Uganda’s push for high standard, export ready production and has spearheaded the urgent amendment of eight major food safety and export related laws including chemicals act, animal diseases act and these reforms provide the legal backbone Uganda needs to enter premium markets on equal footing.