Premier: Boards for crops promotion must enlist with GSI Tanzania
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has directed various boards responsible for marketing and promotion of cash and food crops to enlist with the GS1 Tanzania for the purpose of adding value to locally produced goods through barcoding.
The PM mentioned the boards as Tanzania Diary Board, Tanzania Coffee Board and Tanzania Tea Board as well as Tanzania Cotton Board and the Cereals and Other Produce Board of Tanzania, among others.
Speaking at the 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of GS1 Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Majaliwa pointed to the sad reality that local products are fetching lower prices in local and foreign markets due to lack of barcodes and poor packaging.
The premier also instructed local government authorities to identify small and medium entrepreneurs in their respective areas with a view of registering the enterprises with barcodes and providing them with awareness on suitable packaging and labeling of their produce.
All products in Tanzania should have an initial 620…. as the country’s barcode. Tanzania joined GS1 in 2012, an international organisation based in Brussels, Belgium, which provides barcodes and supports traceability of services, e-commerce and other trade related issues, globally.
GS1 operates in 110 countries worldwide and Tanzania became the third country to have its own barcode in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Kenya.
“There is a need to sensitize our people to improve packaging and barcoding of their products; this is the only way where we can sell the goods at attractive rates,” Mr Majaliwa told delegates at the meeting in which Tanzania Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN), was among the sponsors.
The PM pointed out further that many SMEs in rural areas are held back by lack of knowledge on barcoding and poor packaging.
As the country seeks to achieve middle-income economy through the Tanzania Development Vision 2025, Mr Majaliwa stressed that an industrial economy will be achieved through value addition of farm, livestock and fishery produce in addition to other natural resources.
Earlier, the Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Joseph Kakunda, revealed that majority of local producers are reluctant to register their produce for barcodes.
“In some areas foreign traders come to Tanzania and make use of the gap through exporting of raw produce to their home countries for packaging and barcoding; in the end such products are deemed to have been produced in those countries,” he pointed out, rather sadly.
The minister thus appealed to local producers to ensure that all agricultural and industrial products are properly packaged and barcoded.
GS1 Tanzania Board Chairman, Dr Gideon Mazara, informed the prime minister that over 2,000 members have been registered with the organisation since it was established in 2012.
Dr Mazara noted further that training of SMEs, particularly those in rural areas, on using barcodes, was crucial for the country’s industrialisation agenda.
The Executive Director of Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, Mr Godfrey Simbeye, pledged before the premier that the private sector apex body will encourage its members to enlist for the technology.
Mr Simbeye also appealed to the government to formulate a policy to provide incentives for start-up companies.