Testing facilities in country still lagging behind

Shamsul Huda | Published: November 12, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Testing facilities for products and services in a growing export oriented country like Bangladesh is still lagging behind.
The testing laboratories under different ministries of the government including Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and private level local and foreign laboratories are not maintaining global standards, sources said.
The exportable products tested by both the government and privately owned laboratories are facing trouble abroad and hurting country's image in the world market, they added.
Despite local products of many exporting firms achieving global standards, they are facing trouble, as there is no government control over laboratory accreditations and certifications.
Only a few labs possess globally accepted accreditations and are maintaining calibration of their equipment and machinery, the sources added.
In the export market products like medicine, food, shrimp, apparels, chemicals and other major items are frequently facing trouble caused by wrong studies due to insufficient training and inadequate instrument facilities in the local labs.
A retired testing expert in the BSTI said the foreign firms' certification is also in question as the exportable products tested in their labs or the labs accredited by them are also facing problems in the global market.
Slack control of the government on different labs under different ministries is also to be blamed, the expert said requesting anonymity.
There is no supervision by the government over quality and standards of the labs in health diagnosis, medicine manufacturing, food and beverages processing, apparel dyeing, shrimp processing and in many other fields, he added.
Different regulatory bodies of the government (BTRC, BERC, DGDA and others) also have no control over quality of products and services in fields like telecommunication, energy, heath and medicine.
Though the BGMEA does have a lab of their own to detect colour and dyeing toxicity for their export products, it is not fully equipped.
The lab is yet to get skilled manpower and its training facilities are also inadequate despite readymade garment exports being the main pillar of strength of the country's economy.
A former director general of the BSTI, also requesting anonymity, said without elaborating that the institution is also not being allowed to play in a level playing field and they are becoming biased in many cases.
Currently more than 1000 labs are there in the country owned by the government, big local firms and foreigners.
According to a source in state-owned Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) out of over 1000 labs across the country less than 30 are BAB accredited.
He said as per global trade rules every exporting firm has to get accreditation from their own government but as the BAB is yet to get the international recognition so the exporters are getting testing and standards certification done from other countries.
Acknowledging 'mismanagement,' Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) Chairman Dr Ahmad Ismail Mustafa said a good number of labs are there in the country now.
He regretted that no guidelines from the government are being maintained for calibrating the equipment and machinery for tests and measurements.
Giving an example, he said health diagnosis report of a particular person varies in different laboratories as the labs do not have standard calibration.
A BAB high official said they are going ahead in getting the international recognition and after receiving it, it will be mandatory for the local firms and other labs to get accreditation from the BAB.
He said the BAB has already appointed more than 70 persons from different universities, private firms and other experts for assessing the particulars of different laboratories of the country before providing accreditations and certifications.
Pran RFL Group Chief Executive Officer Amjad Khan Chowdhury told the FE that a few days back one of his products faced trouble in US following tests conducted by US lab.
He said, "Our product was tested in our own laboratory. Finally it got BSTI approval, but it faced trouble in the US lab as they are highly modernised. They found lead in our product."
He said Bangladesh is already manufacturing global standard products which are being exported to many countries.
He said to improve product quality more, both the government and the private entrepreneurs must come forward to upgrade testing facilities to world standards.