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{
    "id": 241970,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/241970/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 195,
        "legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
        "slug": "raila-odinga"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion because consumer protection is something whose importance goes without question. The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has a specific responsibility to formulate standards and specifications for quality July 19, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2195 of goods. The Bureau has the power to ensure that the goods produced in the country comply with the standards which have been formulated. The consumer protection goes beyond the scope of the Kenya Bureau of Standards Act. The KEBS needs to be checked to ensure that it does its work. We must create checks and balances in the system. The issue of consumer protection is of international importance. I know that a number of countries have consumer associations. For example, in Britain, we have the British Tenders Institution, but over and above that, we have the British Consumer Association. It works very closely with the British Standards Institution to ensure that standards are not only formulated and enforced, but also seen to be enforced. A \"standard\" is an arbitrary term. It means fitness for use. So, if an object can serve the purpose for which it is intended, then it is of good standard. The KEBS has to be very consultative in formulation of standards. As has already been said by other contributors here, there is laxity in terms of formulation and implementation of standards. I am one of those people who were involved in the formation and establishment of the KEBS. I have serious concerns about the way the Bureau is being managed. The KEBS does not have to get into anyone's bedroom to know what is happening. It should be able to monitor goods at the point of production and sale. The KEBS has the power to go into the manufacturing lines to collect samples and test them, in order to monitor conformity of standards. It also has powers to go into a warehouse and pick samples for testing, to see if the goods being produced meet the required standards. It is not the business of KEBS to go to the Port of Mombasa to test the standards of imported goods. However, it has a responsibility to make sure that whatever is being produced locally conforms with our standards. What is being produced outside, including in the COMESA market, can be checked using an accreditation arrangement. In countries where our goods are sold, there are institutions which do the testing. The KEBS can accredit laboratories to do testing on its behalf so that when goods land here, we only check that they bear the certificate of an accredited institution, instead of wasting time going to the Port of Mombasa to get samples for testing. That process is subject to abuse. Officers who go to the port do not check if imported goods comply with our standards. They go there to get kick-backs and allow the goods to come into the country. An accreditation system should have been started a long time ago. This was the intention of KEBS, yet it has not done anything. The KEBS is wasting time. It sometimes calls the Press to see goods that it has aggregated. The goods are not aggregated because they do not conform to our standards. They are aggregated when officers from KEBS do not get any kick-backs. Please, take note of that."
}