The Police Force has been urged to collaborate with the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) in the fight against importation, distribution and sale of substandard products in Tanzania.
The call was given by TBS Director General, Mr. Charles Ekelege, during a standardization and quality assurance sensitization seminar for Police officers held at the Blue Pearl Hotel in Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday, 30th November, 2011.
The TBS Director General said his organization can collaborate with the Police Force in the area of surveillance, intelligence and operations against importers and distributors of substandard products. Another area is the enforcement of the Standards Act No. 2 of 2009.
On his part, the leader of the Police delegation, ACP Emmanuel Kandihabi said Police has always been a stakeholder in the fight against substandard and counterfeit products in the market, in collaboration with various government organs. He said the Police Force was ready to work in closer collaboration with TBS to eradicate substandard products in the market and proposed a joint task force to oversee joint efforts in the fight against substandard and counterfeit products.
During the seminar that attracted more that 60 police officers from all-over the country, six papers were presented. The papers were “Importance of Standards and how they are developed” presented by the Director of Standards Development Mr. Leandri Kinabo, “The Implementation of Standards” presented by the Director of Quality Management, Ms. Kezia Mbwambo and “Testing, Calibration and Packaging Services at TBS” presented by the Director of Testing, Calibration and Packaging Services, Mr. Dominic Mwakangale.
Other papers were “How to identify substandard products” presented by the Head of Certification, Eng. Joshua Katabwa, “The TBS Legal Powers (The Standard Act No. 2 of 2009)” presented by The TBS Legal Officer, Mr. Baptist Bitaho, and “The Role of the Police Force in the fight against substandard and counterfeit products in the market” presented by ACP Kandihabi.