eBusiness Weekly
Munashe Matambo
HARARE – Government is in the process of setting up a Compulsory Specifications Authority (CSA) to complement the work being done by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
The CSA will be the national regulator for compulsory specifications.
Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development Minister Dr Mike Bimha said the proposed authority will help ensure that companies are better compliant with international standards.
“The (Compulsory Specifications) Authority, which will be the national regulator for compulsory specifications, will be mandated to ensure compliance with some standards that are critical to health and safety of the consumers, quality of goods and preservation of the environment,” said Dr Bimha.
“As a nation, we cannot afford to ignore international standards. By ignoring international standards, we ignore international business and trade partners. We need to reference International Standards wherever possible in our policies and regulations in order to build best practice in everything that we do.”
The Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) is the long-standing standardisation body in the country.
It has been in operation for the past 60 years.
Dr Bimha encouraged the SAZ to carry out more work to operationalize the practice of referencing standards in policies and regulations and to give guidance on the implementation of applicable international standards.
Meanwhile, Government is also is working with key stakeholders in the formulation of the Zimbabwe National Regulatory and Quality Infrastructure Policy, which will go a long way in the implementation of the Zimbabwe National Standardisation Strategy.
In light of the Government’s current efforts to turn around the economy, the development of the National Regulatory and Quality Infrastructure Policy has come at an opportune time to support the Government’s economic mantra: “Zimbabwe is open for business.”
Mrs Angelica Katuruza, a director in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development said the regulatory framework will come as a major boost for exports to Zimbabwe especially at the moment when the country is seized with economic initiatives to increase export receipts.
