In its effort to safeguard the health and safety of consumers, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has intensified market surveillance inspections across the country.
The inspections target locally manufactured as well as imported products that do not meet quality, safety, and performance standards, as well as expired products that are distributed and sold by some wholesalers and retailers.Â
The objective is to ensure that products availed on the market comply with applicable compulsory Uganda standards and are safe for consumption.
During the last financial year 2025/2026, UNBS conducted 6,642 inspections all over the country at points-of-sale, food processing facilities, distribution trucks, chemical and consumer goods factories, steel and engineering manufacturing facilities, paint factories, steel factories, hardware shops, cosmetics shops and factories, maize mills, bakeries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage factories, and other construction materials factories.
In terms of regional coverage, the Central region had the highest number of inspections, followed by the Western region, then the Eastern region and the Northern region.
During these inspections, UNBS seized more than 880 tons of substandard products worth about UGX 3 Billion.Â
These included food products, cosmetics, and construction materials, among others. The seizure of these dangerous substandard products saved the health and safety of thousands of consumers who would have been badly affected or injured if they consumed or used these products.
In the process of inspecting, a number of businesses that were found in contravention of compulsory standards were sensitized and guided on how to comply with the relevant standards.Â
Some of these were made to temporarily halt production operations and were required to correct their mistakes. Upon confirming the corrections, they were allowed to resume operations.
UNBS also carries out inspections and checks and seizes substandard products found in shops, supermarkets, warehouses, and uncertified manufacturers in order to deny them shelf space and thus availability to unsuspecting consumers.
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This also protects compliant manufacturers and traders from unfair competition.
The inspections are in line with the UNBS mandate of enforcing standards in protection of public health and safety, as well as the environment, against dangerous and sub-standard products, as prescribed in the UNBS Act Cap 210 and the UNBS (Market Surveillance and Enforcement of Compulsory Standard Specifications) Regulation 2021.
The Act also prohibits importation, manufacture, sale, distribution or holding for the purpose of selling any product that does not meet compulsory Uganda standards.
