The Swaziland Standards Authority
(SWASA), Since its establishment in April 2007,
SWASA has tirelessly worked
towards the development of a
sustainable quality-driven culture in the
economy. This public enterprise under the
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade
was established through the Standards and
Quality Act 10 of 2003. The Act establishes
SWASA as the sole custodian of all
standards and quality related issues in
Swaziland and spells out its mandate, which
includes the development of standards,
providing testing facilities for all locally and
foreign produced goods, and carrying out
relevant educational programs.
Previously, standardisation and the
application of quality principles was a
practice that was upheld by export entities
as this is a requirement in most export
markets. This was achieved with assistance
from the South African Bureau of
Standards (SABS), whose standards were
applied and used for certification. The
certification of commodities for local market
consumption was not always a necessity as
this was only required for the few items that
are protected by law. Certification was used
only by multinational companies whose
brands required protection, especially
against competing sub-standard products.
SWASA’s first two years of operation have
been characterised by building internal
capacity, the engagement of local
stakeholders, creating awareness and setting
the pace for developing a quality-driven
culture. The SWASA stakeholders include
Government agencies, NGOs, the private
sector, SMMEs, consumer associations,
academia and quality practitioners. Their
Standardisation participation is crucial to SWASA achieving
its mandate in line with the Act.
To date, seven international standards have
been adopted, which are listed in the first
table on the left. When adopting these
standards, stakeholders in the sectors in
which they may be utilised were organised
into Technical Committees to deliberate on
their content. The final draft documents
submitted by the TCs were made available
to the public for comment before being
taken to the SWASA Council for approval
as Swaziland National Standards (SZNS).
Sixteen new projects were then identified
for development and completion by the end
of the 2010 financial year. They affect a
number of sectors and while most are
adoptions of existing international
standards, some will be developed from
scratch and be unique to Swaziland. These
are listed in the second table on the left.
In addition, there have been various
initiatives to inform the public of their right
to quality and the use of standards to
achieve this. These initiatives include the
SWASA Consumer Information Interface,
debates within schools and radio slots.
SWASA also participates at events such as
the International Trade Fair, World
Environmental Day and World Labour Day.
The underlying driver for SWASA’s activities
is the development of a quality-driven culture
through standardisation, which will
ultimately lead to improving the world in
which we live.