Tanzania: Fake Toilet Papers Flood Market - Regulato
Kampala — Toilet
paper manufacturers do not comply with required standard, which exposes
consumers, especially women to dangerous diseases such as cervical
cancer and candida, among others, according to Uganda National Bureau of
Standards (UNBS).
The findings are
contained in a research that was commissioned by the surveillance
department of UNBS to find out the PH and bacterial load makeup and
strength of sheets from which toilet papers are made.
Speaking during a
consultative meeting with toilet paper manufacturers in Kampala on
Thursday, Ms Patricia Ejalu, the UNBS deputy executive director, said
they had done an analysis of a research on toilet papers they had
commissioned recently and the results were not so good.
"We did an analysis
and our results were not so good. Most of the toilet papers on the
market were below [required standards," she said, adding this exposes
consumers to a number of infections.
In January, UNBS destroyed substandard goods worth Sh1.7 billion of which an estimated Shs6.4m was the value of toilet papers.
The findings, Ms
Ejalu said, have forced UNBS to come up with tough measure that will
effective July 1, require all manufacturers to get certification before
they engage into the manufacture of the product.
However, importers
said they were concerned of the existence of pre-verification of
imported products which they say are the raw materials used to make the
toilet papers that now UNBS deems to be substandard.
Mr Walter Adhola,
the Tender Roll production manager, said the move will increase the
price of toilet papers, arguing that manufacturers will have to shift
from their current raw material source (China) to UK.
A number of
manufacturers, according to UNBS, produce toilet papers in cottages
without certification. Other manufacturers are illegally reproducing
existing products, especially those manufactured in China.
The new
certification, Ms Ejalu said, will require all manufacturer to acquire a
quality mark, which unlike in the past, will be mandatory for all
toilet paper manufacturers.
The research, which
involved 17 locally manufactured brands and seven imported ones,
concluded that Ugandan toilet papers are below standards and are a
danger to human life.
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