AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA Bureau of Standards (TBS) has said the registration of premises for food and cosmetics is a legal requirement that business people should fulfill with the aim of meeting quality standards.
All dealers in food and cosmetics business in the country should have their prime concerns on the protection of consumer’s health.
“Dealers should take reasonable steps to ensure that the food supplied to the community is safe of good quality and at the same time they should ensure that registered premises for manufacturing, storage, distribution and selling are well constructed, secured and maintained in a way that the safety and health of consumers is assured.”
An inspector with TBS, Baraka Mbajije said in an interview, adding that at TBS there is a special department responsible for the registration of premises and quality certification of goods before starting business operations.
With the Finance Act 2019, the obligations on the safety and quality control of food and cosmetics were officially transferred to TBS from the former Tanzania Food and Drugs and Authority (TFDA).
Mbajije said some of the requirements for the registration of business premises for food and cosmetics are the business formalisation, business licence and the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
The response of business people to register their businesses has remained low and since when TBS started registration of business premises in October last year received 2,237 only.
To ensure that business people comply with the law that requires them to register their premises for food and cosmetics, TBS is regularly conducting impromptu inspections in all the premises to identify those who have not adhered to the law.
One of the benefits of compliance to the law that requires owners of business premises to register for quality standards is the guarantee and preservation of the goods in premises that meet the required standards.
For imported food and cosmetics, the procedures to apply for the registration is almost the same as that of the business premises which is done online.
Also, trucks and other transport facilities that are used in food and cosmetics business should follow the same procedures of registration to meet the required standards.
After meeting the requirements, TBS inspectors take time to inspect the architect of the business premises designed for food and cosmetics merchandise that should among others show store for storage of goods.
He said for restaurants or hotels that provides food services, the premises should have a place for receiving and preparing food.
When a trader has all the requirements, the next step is to make registration of the premises for food and cosmetics online through a link at the TBS website.
After filling all the required documentations online, TBS officials will start processing the application then send the trader the control number for making payment.
After making the payment, TBS contact the business person for the inspection of the business premises before starting business operations.
When the inspection is complete and the premises meet the TBS standards, then the trader is issued with the quality certificate online.
The certificate remains valid for one year and the renewal is supposed to be done two months before the expiry period and that should follow procedures as is making the first application.
Mbajije said TBS has been doing impromptu inspections in all the premises to see if they comply the required standards.
The registration of premises and licensing of food businesses shall not be considered as the sole means of controlling operations of such premises.
However, there are other valuable means of aid in enforcing relevant legislation, such as adherence to good hygienic practices, good storage practice and good distribution practice that ensure day-to-day operations of these premises are in line with the laws and regulations.
The food premises shall be designed for the intended purpose and shall have no direct link with any business or occupation that may lead to contamination of food.
Every utensil and equipment used in food and cosmetics premises shall be suitable for their intended use, well designed and adequately cleanable and proper maintenance of cold chain for frozen products.
Every food contact surface shall be smooth and impervious, free from pits, crevices and loose scale, non-toxic and capable of withstanding repeated cleaning disinfection and sanitisation.
Utensils, crockery, cutlery and other equipment coming in contact with food shall be sufficient in number to enable adequate sanitisation before use.
Single service articles shall be stored in appropriate containers and handled, dispensed, used and disposed to prevent contamination of food or food contact surfaces.
Apart from business licence and TIN, also for imported goods a trader is required to attach descriptions regarding the manufacturing of the goods.
All the descriptions should be listed and their percentage. For example the amount of sugar used in grams or percentage and should put the Certificate of Analysis that will be given by the manufacturer of the goods.
Since when TBS took over the registration of food and cosmetics, has received 1,924 applications.
