The Kenya Bureau of Standards celebrated 50 years since its formation on Monday, October 14, coinciding with World Standard Day.
The organization has made significant strides in promoting standardization, metrology, and quality assurance in Kenya, assuring consumers and businesses across industries of the optimal standard and safety of goods in the Kenyan Market.
This has been achieved by developing and maintaining thousands of Kenyan standards across various sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, health, ICT, and services. These standards help ensure product quality, safety, and environmental protection.
During the celebration held at their headquarters, the head of Public Service, Mr. Felix Kosgei remarked on the institution’s growth and its focus on environmental and sustainability standards in line with the government’s objective to advance its green economy agenda.
“KEBS has contributed to industrial growth by helping industries meet required standards for product quality, safety, and efficiency, thus enhancing their competitiveness locally and internationally,” he said. Adding that, through its inspections, testing, and market surveillance, KEBS has helped reduce the circulation of substandard and counterfeit products.
The Cabinet Secretary of Trade commended KEBS for its active contribution to the harmonization of standards within the East African Community (EAC) and other regional bodies like COMESA.
Kosgei further pointed out that despite the delay in Funding as a result of the scrapping of the Finance Bill 2024, the government was aware of the significant role the organization plays and assured that the disbursement is being fast-tracked by the treasury to keep the organization efficiently operational.
Moreover, he cautioned the organization from financial wastage and misappropriation saying that appraisal will be done in service delivery to ascertain the performance in relation to the resources disbursed.
