Rwanda Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in rwanda, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
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Overview

The Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) is the government institution charged with the implementation of standards, testing, product certification, accreditation, labeling, marking, and technical regulations.  Rwandan standards are flexible and market driven.  RSB does not have in-house capacity to develop standards and largely relies on (and coordinates) technical committees made of researchers, manufacturers, academia, other government institutions, and consumer representatives that work together to develop standards.  Some new standards are derived from international treaties that Rwanda signs.  There is a mix of mandatory and voluntary standards.  Standards related to health, safety, and environmental protection are mandatory both for local production and import.  RSB posts standards under review on its website and issues notifications.  Parties that do not have a manufacturing presence in the market can participate in standards development work by filing comments and receiving feedback during public reviews. 

Standards

Rwanda develops domestic standards but also accepts international standards.  Rwanda is a member of the EAC Standards Technical Management Committee.  Approved EAC measures are generally incorporated into the Rwandan regulatory system within six months and are published in the National Gazette like other domestic laws and regulations.  Rwanda is also a member of other international standardization organizations and accepts their standards. 

Those include:

  • ISO:  International Organization for Standardization
  • IEC:  International Electro-technical Commission
  • IEEE:  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • CODEX:  CODEX Alimentarius International Food Standards
  • ITU:  International Telecommunication Union
  • OIML:  International Organization of Legal Metrology
  • COMESA:  Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
  • ARSO:  African Organization for Standardization
  • AFSEC:  The African Electro-Technical Standardization Commission
  • SADC:  Southern African Development Community
  • WTO:  World Trade Organization
  • EAC:  East African Community

Testing, Inspection, and Certification

Generally, products enter the market freely.  RSB is among the Rwanda government agencies using the One Single Electronic Window.  Any imported product related to health, safety or environment requires an employee of RSB to authorize a Release Order using the One Single Electronic Window.  To allow quick release and avoid custom warehouse charges, RSB can conduct quality checks at the owner’s premises.

Publication of Technical Regulations

Proposed technical regulations are regularly published by the RSB.  U.S. companies should contact the RSB with comments on any proposed regulations.  Final regulations are published in the Official Gazette.  Time allowed to comment on proposed technical regulations varies between 30-90 days.  RSB prepares an annual standards development work plan based on requests from the previous year.

Resources:

A sample workplan

Standards for public review

More information on testing

 

Contact Information

Rwanda Standards Board
KK 15 Rd #49

+250 252-582945/586103, Hotline:  3250
Email: info@rsb.gov.rw

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform, or ePing, provides access to notifications made by WTO members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.

Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for U.S. stakeholders, has reached its end of life.  Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point.  National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S. domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information.  This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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