Members of Parliament of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism visited the MBS Head Offices in Blantyre on 2^nd May 2024. The visit is part of the ongoing engagement between the MBS and the Committee as they exercise their oversight role.  

The Committee’s visit was aimed at appreciating the activities of the MBS and the challenges the MBS is facing in its operations and how the committee can support the institution in addressing the bottlenecks at parliament level. Speaking during the interface meeting, The Deputy Director General of the MBS Mr Thom Senganimalunje who represented the Director General appreciated the coming of the members of the committee citing that engagements of this nature provide a common ground of understanding on the role, mandate and challenges of the MBS.

Mr. Senganimalunje further shared the ambitious Accreditation Plan of the MBS as projected in the 2023 – 2028 MBS Strategic Plan. In his statement, the Deputy Director General highlighted the importance of the accreditation and in turning around our economy. During the discussions, members of the Committee enquired on the justification for collection and usage of Cess (quality development levy). Mr. Senganimalunje stressed that the operations of the MBS are of high cost and capital intensive in nature and that Cess is one of such income streams that gives the financial balance to the MBS. He then added that Cess is very importan in sustaining the quality monitoring activities of the MBS and it serves the purposes of quality development. Cess is applied on some designated import products under Import Quality Monitoring Scheme. Among other quality development areas where Cess is used includes accreditation expenses, procurement of and servicing of laboratory equipments as well as capacity building of the members of staff in relevant areas in line with priotised organizational needs, he added.

The Deputy Director General was optimistic that the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism will continue to provide important support to the MBS in development of policy direction and relevant legal frameworks for the MBS among others..

In his remarks after touring MBS laboratories, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee Hon Chipungu thanked the MBS management on the significant strides the institution is proactively taking to best support diverse spheres of the economy. He further added that, as Malawi is striving to become an export-led economy, the MBS has a critical role to play because for Malawi to stand the heat of competition at international market, issues of Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology services are very critical.

The Vice Chairperson of the committee wrapped up his remarks by highlighting that the Committee has also appreciated technical bottlenecks that the MBS is facing to attain the accreditation in other diverse strategic scopes to best support the growth and development of our economy. He said, the Committee is going back fully aware of the challenges that the MBS is facing and that the committee will provide all necessary support including lobbying members of parliament to support MBS in their areas of needs at legistrative level. Malawi is not operating in a vacuum as the world has completely become a global village hence there is a need for the MBS be given all the required support if Malawi is to aggressively adapt and survive the shocks of competition on international market. The MBS is a Statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the MBS has direct attachment to the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Members of Parliament of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism visited the MBS Head Offices in Blantyre on 2^nd May 2024. The visit is part of the ongoing engagement between the MBS and the Committee as they exercise their oversight role. 

The Committee’s visit was aimed at appreciating the activities of the MBS and the challenges the MBS is facing in its operations and how the committee can support the institution in addressing the bottlenecks at parliament level. Speaking during the interface meeting, The Deputy Director General of the MBS Mr Thom Senganimalunje who represented the Director General appreciated the coming of the members of the committee citing that engagements of this nature provide a common ground of understanding on the role, mandate and challenges of the MBS.

Mr. Senganimalunje further shared the ambitious Accreditation Plan of the MBS as projected in the 2023 – 2028 MBS Strategic Plan. In his statement, the Deputy Director General highlighted the importance of the accreditation and in turning around our economy. During the discussions, members of the Committee enquired on the justification for collection and usage of Cess (quality development levy). Mr. Senganimalunje stressed that the operations of the MBS are of high cost and capital intensive in nature and that Cess is one of such income streams that gives the financial balance to the MBS. He then added that Cess is very importan in sustaining the quality monitoring activities of the MBS and it serves the purposes of quality development. Cess is applied on some designated import products under Import Quality Monitoring Scheme. Among other quality development areas where Cess is used includes accreditation expenses, procurement of and servicing of laboratory equipments as well as capacity building of the members of staff in relevant areas in line with priotised organizational needs, he added.

The Deputy Director General was optimistic that the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism will continue to provide important support to the MBS in development of policy direction and relevant legal frameworks for the MBS among others.

In his remarks after touring MBS laboratories, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee Hon Chipungu thanked the MBS management on the significant strides the institution is proactively taking to best support diverse spheres of the economy. He further added that, as Malawi is striving to become an export-led economy, the MBS has a critical role to play because for Malawi to stand the heat of competition at international market, issues of Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology services are very critical. 

The Vice Chairperson of the committee wrapped up his remarks by highlighting that the Committee has also appreciated technical bottlenecks that the MBS is facing to attain the accreditation in other diverse strategic scopes to best support the growth and development of our economy. He said, the Committee is going back fully aware of the challenges that the MBS is facing and that the committee will provide all necessary support including lobbying members of parliament to support MBS in their areas of needs at legistrative level. Malawi is not operating in a vacuum as the world has completely become a global village hence there is a need for the MBS be given all the required support if Malawi is to aggressively adapt and survive the shocks of competition on international market. The MBS is a Statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the MBS has direct attachment to the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism.