Kenya pledges stronger consumer safety measures at ISO meeting in Nairobi

At the 45th International Organization for Standards (ISO) Committee on Consumer Policy (ISO/COPOLCO) Plenary meeting in Nairobi, Munyiri highlighted the importance of standards in addressing the myriad challenges faced by consumers today.

He emphasized that standards are crucial for ensuring safety, reliability, and consumer confidence, which are essential for both protecting consumers and supporting emerging technologies. 

Munyiri reiterated that standardization is a key component of the government's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, driving industrial growth and safeguarding consumers from harmful products and practices.

Kenya has fortified its regulatory framework with the Consumer Protection Act 2012 (No. 46 of 2012), which outlaws unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements while detailing consumer rights and obligations.

 Despite regulatory improvements, Munyiri stressed the need to prioritize standards as a core solution for consumer protection, ensuring product quality, safety, and reliability.

The Chairman who was accompanied by the ISO/COPOLCO Acting Chair Eunsook Moon, said it was crucial however that even as the regulatory framework was strengthened, the importance of standards as a solution to consumer protection is prioritized. 

“Standards play a very important role in consumer protection by ensuring quality, safety and reliability of products and services. It is through standards that we’re able to establish benchmarks for product quality and safety, and where recourse can be obtained in the event of harm caused by products that fail to meet applicable standards,” he observed. 

Munyiri said KEBS, as the national standards body, has a mandate to implement and enforce standards pivotal for quality, safety and efficiency. 

KEBS is also responsible for issuing quality certification marks like the S-Mark to indicate that a product meets quality standards as a way of helping consumers identify safe and reliable products. 

KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari, in a speech read on her behalf by the organization’s Director for Quality Assurance and Inspection Dr. Geoffrey Muriira said KEBS plays an important role in providing standardization, metrology and conformity assessment solutions for sustainable development in the country.

The Managing Director called for closer cooperation within the ISO community to develop stronger, better and more consumer­focused relationships, and to enhance communication with consumers to help them make informed and confident decisions.

The ISO/COPOLCO Acting Chair, Eunsook Moon, in her speech called for consumers to be given more say in global trade matters, noting that despite constituting the largest economic group, consumers were rarely consulted on important global matters, especially those relating to standardization. 

Moon observed that consumers made up 70 percent of all global spending and hence cannot be ignored whenever important decisions relating to consumption and trade are concerned. 

The three-day Plenary, attended by participants from 36 countries, aims to explore the role of standards in supporting sustainable trade and promoting the circular economy. 

Themed "Building circularity into sustainable trade, Standards as solutions in consumer protection," the event showcases good practices and how standards can help national economies reduce waste and enable sustainable consumer choices.