The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has urged all importers and dealers in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to follow quality standards or face arrest.
This follows complaints from the public about under-filling of LPG cylinders, which leaves the consumers cheated because they get less than what they actually pay for.
A market survey done by UNBS in 2020, in areas of Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono shows that 35% of the LPG importers, owners of LPG Cylinder filling plants, Owners of LPG outlets and other LPG dealers are trading contrary to the Weights and Measures (Sale and Labeling of Goods) rules 2007, Statutory Instrument No.36 2007.
According to UNBS, Rule 8 of the Weights and Measures (Sale and Labeling of Goods) rules 2007, Statutory Instrument No.36 2007 provides that the goods should be labelled with the Name and address of the manufacturer of the goods and where the goods are not prepackaged by the manufacturer and the particulars of the person responsible for the packing should be indicated.
The rule also includes the common or generic name of the goods contained in the package and the weight or measure of goods contained in the package.
Furthermore, UNBS says clause 7 of the Uganda Standard US 971:2019 Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) – Specification requires the LPG cylinders to be clearly labelled with the supplier’s name or brand name or trade mark, the product name as ‘LPG’ and Type of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplied, among others.
According to UNBS, there are inconsistencies in labeling even amongst cylinders of the same quantity from the same company while most of the gas cylinders do not have the product name ‘LPG’ that is a mandatory requirement for all such products.
“Either the labelling is done by engraving or marking paint as a marker, however, the size of the characters engraved could hardly be read because they are so small while some are not visible due to vanished body paint,” UNBS says.
“Several companies mark inconsistently with some labelling on top of the gas cylinders, others on the handles and on the sides of the cylinder which contradicts Rule 8, sub rule 5(a) of the Weights and Measures Sale and Labelling of Goods Rule no. 36 of 2007,” it adds.
UNBS has warned all stakeholders in the LPG industry to take corrective action as soon as possible, ahead of the enforcement of the quality standards by UNBS, which is expected to commence with immediate effect.
“UNBS also urges the public to look out for the details above when purchasing Liquefied Petroleum Gas (GAS) and report dealers of substandard products to UNBS using toll free line 0800133133,” UNBS adds.