Govt crafts new National Quality Policy

PHILLIMON MHLANGA IN VICTORIA FALLS
Government is in the final stages of crafting a new National Quality Policy Framework aimed at strengthening Zimbabwe’s quality infrastructure and consolidating gains achieved under the previous policy that expired in 2023, Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has said.
Speaking at the Standardisation and Business Leaders’ Conference in Victoria Falls, Ndlovu said the new framework is being developed through extensive consultations with industry players, academia and regulatory commissions, with a strong focus on improving standardisation, accreditation, technical regulation and quality awareness.
He said the reforms would require closer collaboration between the public and private sectors to modernise the country’s quality infrastructure and boost industrial competitiveness.
“The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is in the final stages of developing a new National Quality Policy Framework, which is aimed at consolidating the gains achieved under the first National Quality Policy, which expired in 2023,” Ndlovu said.
“Significant progress has been made through extensive stakeholder consultations and ongoing collaboration with academia and commissions with the objective of formulating a comprehensive and forward-looking set of policy interventions across the key pillars of quality infrastructure, which include standardisation, metrology, conformity assessment, accreditation, technical regulation and quality awareness.”
He said the next phase of reforms would focus on strengthening domestic conformity assessment systems to reduce reliance on foreign certification mechanisms.
Ndlovu added that Government was also pushing ahead with plans to establish a National Accreditation Board, which would initially collaborate with regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service before transitioning towards full national capacity.
“This next phase of reform calls for a collective commitment from both the public and private sectors to drive implementation and fundamentally transform the quality infrastructure landscape,” he said.
“Central to this agenda is the need to strengthen and institutionalise domestic conformity assessment systems, thereby reducing reliance on external mechanisms.”
He said the proposed reforms were expected to improve product quality, enhance consumer confidence and support Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda by aligning local standards with regional and international best practice.