Zambia and Mozambique have signed an agreement to harmonise quality standards and facilitate regional trade by strengthening cooperation between their quality infrastructure institutions.
The agreement was signed in Lusaka on Wednesday by the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS), Zambia Compulsory Standards Agency (ZCSA), Zambia Metrology Agency (ZMA) and Mozambique’s National Institute for Standardisation and Quality (INNOQ).
The partnership falls under the World Bank-funded Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity Project.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, ZCSA Executive Director, Gerald Chizinga, said the agreement covered four broad areas: standardisation, conformity assessment, metrology, and training and information sharing.
He said the agreement would support the implementation of regional and international commitments on standardisation, quality assurance, metrology and conformity assessment to which both countries were party.
“We intend to prepare national standards where possible to allow each body to adopt measures, applying uniform rules and procedures aligned with international best practices and the harmonisation of national standards,” Chizinga said.
He said the institutions had also agreed to accept the results of each other’s conformity assessment procedures and exchange calibration standards and technical experience.
ZMA Executive Director, Humphrey Nkombeni, said the agreement was strategically important for Zambia, particularly in addressing challenges associated with petroleum transportation from Mozambique.
He said Zambia had experienced problems involving unaccounted-for losses and reported quality concerns in petroleum products transported between the two countries.
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Nkombeni said the discrepancies raised concerns about the accuracy and consistency of petroleum measurements at loading and offloading points.
He added that differences in measurement practices had resulted in financial losses for transporters and oil marketing companies, while complicating the reconciliation of quantities.
“Through this agreement we have an opportunity to harmonise our petroleum measurement application procedure between Zambia and Mozambique. To strengthen measurement and also establish consistent procedures for quantifying our petroleum products,” Nkombeni said.
INNOQ Director-General, Geraldo Albanisi, said the agreement marked an important step towards strengthening economic competitiveness and facilitating regional trade between Zambia and Mozambique.
“This occasion represents an important step towards affirming our country’s commitment to promoting economic competitiveness and the facilitation of regional trade between Mozambique and Zambia,” he said.
“We recognize that efficient trade corridors require not only transport and logistic infrastructure but also robust quality systems capable of facilitating trade, reducing technical barriers and strengthening trust between economic operators,” he added.
Albanisi said the agreement would be implemented through technical exchanges, capacity building, sharing of best practices and joint initiatives.
Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry permanent secretary, Crusivia Hichikumba, said the agreement established a framework for technical and institutional cooperation in standardisation, metrology, conformity assessment, training and accreditation.
He said the partnership was expected to strengthen the quality infrastructure systems of both countries, reduce technical barriers to trade and improve competitiveness in regional and international markets.
He said the success of the agreement would depend on its implementation and tangible outcomes, urging the participating institutions to ensure it delivered meaningful benefits for businesses, industry and citizens.
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