The Uganda National Bureau of Standards has called upon the 9^th parliament to immediately pass the anti-counterfeit bill 2010 so as to check fake products in the market.

The UNBS  notes that the current laws doesn’t give them the mandate to take action against counterfeit as the bureau is still operating under the Uganda national bureau of standards Act 1983 and sell of goods Act 1932 which have very weak penalties and fines that are not prohibitive enough to discourage people from committing the crime.

UNBS public relations Officer Moses Sebunya says the most stringent and prohibitive law is needed to deter counterfeit as well as an institutional framework that will prohibit people not to engage in counterfeit.

Meanwhile the UNBS also calls upon the public to be more vigilant when buying products after reports of unscrupulous individuals who extend their expiry date of several products.

UNBS quality assurance manager Javira Musoke says it is the responsibility of consumers to verify before purchasing them.

Musoke further reviled that UNBS has instigated a new mark called AS mark to be labelled on consumable products manufactured by small scale industries.

He says the mark is currently used to prove consumable waragi. Musoke urged customers of waragi to check out the AS mark label before purchasing any Sackets or bottle of waragi.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias