BUJUMBURA July 27th (ABP) – The Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Mrs. Capitoline Niyonizigiye, proceeded on Monday July 26, 2021 in Bujumbura, to the presentation of the report of the achievements of that ministry for the year 2020/2021.
In her speech, Minister Niyonizigiye first recalled that the achievements of that ministry are provided for in the annual action plan (AAP). In the field of trade, Mrs. Niyonizigiye said that the monitoring of the country’s regular supply of basic necessities has been ensured and several weekly field trips have been made. She also added that the measure reducing the number of companies importing edible salt has been lifted with the aim of making the importation of edible salt transparent and iodation rates have been set.
A strategy for the implementation of Burundi’s trade policy that is in line with the PND 2018/2027 in the trade sector has been drawn up. She also reported that a measure banning all imports of maize seeds and flour from certain countries from March 8, 2021 was taken for a period of 6 months to prevent the entry of products with a high content of mycotoxins.
Sensitization sessions for cross-border traders on good trading practices and the WTO (World Trade Organization) agreement on trade facilitation were organized in several provinces of the country.
In the transport sector, the minister indicated that the monitoring work of the SOBUGEA and AIR Burundi merger until the establishment of a new national air transport and assistant company called “Burundi Airlines SM” was carried out.
In the standardization and quality control sector, more than 2000 measuring instruments have been inspected including fuel pumps, commercial scales and weighbridges as part of the inspection and calibration of measuring instruments used in commercial transactions.
Mrs. Niyonizigiye also pointed out that more than 4,000 bags of Portland cement have been checked, some of them were seized for non-compliance with the recommended weights as part of the verification of pre-packaged products. Certificates and licenses have been granted in the process of certifying local products meeting quality standards.
According to the Minister in charge of Trade, Burundian standards covering several products have been developed, analyzed and harmonized.
Research activities on the technological dangers associated with the transformation of cassava into high quality flour, the processing of banana juice and wine were carried out by the CNTA and 13 CNTA laboratory technicians were trained.
In general, the achievements planned in the AAP have been very successful despite certain challenges, including insufficient resources for the supervision of activities in the field.