The Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) Testing Services has been accredited by SADCAS in the scope: Chemical

Analysis. The accreditation which covers the testing laboratory located at Kidney Crescent Road here in Blantyre,

Malawi is for one test method namely: Determination of Aflatoxins (2 – 150 ppb) in cereals, pulses and related

products using the Reveal Q+ with Accuscan III Reader. The MBS Testing Services is the 1st conformity assessment

body in Malawi to be accredited by SADCAS. The certificate which was issued on 3 October 2018 is valid for 5

years until 2 October 2023.

The certificate was handed over during a ceremony held on 7 November 2018 at the Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in

Blantyre, Malawi. The ceremony started off with a prayer by Mr S Kuyeli the Director in charge of MBS Testing

Services. The Director General of Malawi Bureau of Standards Mr Davlin MD Chokazinga then welcomed the

guests. Followed by remarks by Mr A Amosi, the Chairman of the MBS Board of Directors who outlined the journey

towards accreditation which started in earnest when funding was secured under the EU and UNDP SQAM project

as well as the agro-processing project funded by NORAD whose objective was to enhance competitiveness of

products and market access. He then thanked all the cooperating partners EU, UNIDO, NORAD and UNDP for the

funding as well as the Government of Malawi who are funding the new MBS buildings.

Mr P Makhumula GAIN Representative Mr Amosi Chairman MBS Board of Directors

Mrs Maureen P Mutasa, SADCAS CEO Mr Francis Zhuwao, Acting Ps Ministry of Trade, Industry and

Tourism giving the key note address

Malawi Bureau of Standards Testing Services Accredited by SADCAS

Speaking during the certificate handover ceremony Mrs Maureen P Mutasa, the SADCAS Chief Executive Officer

noted that Malawi exports tobacco, gold, tea, cotton, sugar, peanuts, coffee etc. to the US, EU, UAE, Russia and

within the SADC region. With the increasing globalization of markets, accreditation is critical to the trading process

and in ensuring a level playing field for exports and ensuring that imports meet internationally recognized levels of

quality, performance and safety. The MBS Testing Services supports the regulatory functions of the institution

through products certification and serves as a facility for both individuals and industry in quality control process

through testing of their various products. Quality assessment of products is part of the Government’ export

strategy as Malawi strives to enhance competitiveness of products and access to international markets where test

certificates from an accredited laboratory is a now a prerequisite. “Testing is at the very core of MBS services and

ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard that testing laboratories have to comply with in order to be accredited”

she said.

Mrs Mutasa, a food scientist by qualification and experience having worked in both food research and quality

assurance for a long time noted the importance of testing aflatoxins in foods. Aflatoxins which are mycotoxins

produced by two species of a fungus called Aspergillus, are known to be genotoxic and carcinogenic, hence

exposure through food should be kept as low as possible. In many countries’ regulations have been put into place

to help limit exposure to aflatoxins and in most developed countries the limits are very low. The testing for

aflatoxins in such food/feed products such as groundnuts, maize, rice, legumes and crude vegetable oils is a

mandatory requirement for some exports especially to the EU and the USA’ she said. Noting that MBS Testing

Services has been accredited to the 2005 version of ISO/IEC 17025, Mrs Mutasa urged the MBS Testing Services to

ensure that they meet the transition timelines to the latest version of the international standard which was

published in November 2017 so as to maintain the achieved internationally recognized accreditation which they

worked so hard for. Shen then ended her speech with congratulations to MBS Testing Services and a welcome to

the exclusive club of internationally recognized conformity assessment bodies.

After her speech, Mrs Mutasa then handed over the accreditation certificate to Mr Amosi the NBS Board Chairman

who in turn handed it over to MR Davlin Chokazinga.

From left to right: Mr Francis Zhuwao; Mr A Amosi and Mrs Mutasa

In a speech read on behalf of the guest of honour by the Acting Principle Secretary, Honourable Henry Mussa

Member of Parliament and Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, congratulated the MBS for the achievement.

He shared the President’s vision of transforming Malawi’s economy from an importer to an exporter and the

measures put in place to achieve this vision such as developing Malawi’s conformity assessment infrastructure. He

cited the example of aflatoxin testing where Companies were getting accredited test services from outside Malawi

and noted that with internationally recognized accreditation such services will now be secured from MBS Testing

Services thus reducing the trade balances. He then shared with guests the ambitious project underway of the new

building for the MBS under construction and which should be completed in 2019 and committed to continue

subscribing towards SADCAS sustainability. In his closing remarks, the guest of honour thanked all the cooperating

partners EU, UNIDO, UNDP, NORAD and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition who earlier in the programme

had handed over to MBS Testing Services equipment for the testing of Vitamin A and Iron in fortified foods such as

maize flour, salt, cooking oil and sugar.

Group Photo after the ceremony

The closing prayer was given by Mrs A Maliha after which everybody was invited to a cocktail party. The handover

ceremony was attended by about over 40 MBS management and staff, Government officials, invited guests and

the media. The SADCAS CEO was accompanied to the ceremony by Ms Linda Dirorimwe from the SADCAS

Corporate Unit.

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