Uganda Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in uganda, 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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Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade 

Overview

Uganda’s regulatory framework is predominantly government-driven, although the government often consults with stakeholders. Standards are drafted and enforced by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, which is supervised by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives. Uganda is a member of the International Organization for Standardization, the African Regional Organization for Standardization, the East African Standards Committee, COMESA, the FAO/World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius Commission on International Food Standards, and the World Trade Organization. Local standards are developed through the Uganda Industrial Research Institute. Priority areas for standards with potentially large procurement opportunities are food and agriculture, mechanical and building engineering, metallurgy, energy management, and ICT.

Standards and Technical Regulations

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards is charged with developing and checking standards. It develops some of the standards, but in some cases adopts those developed by others. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards is a member of the International Organization for Standardization, Codex Alimentarius, the International Organization of Legal Metrology, and Afrinet. Uganda applies European Union directives and standards, with some modifications. Importers/exporters should contact the UNBS for specific information on standards.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

Test certificates from foreign labs are accepted if the lab is Uganda National Bureau of Standards-accredited. Proposed and final technical regulations and laws are published in the Uganda Gazette (hard copies of which may be purchased at select bookstores in Kampala and available through e-portal). For further details, please contact the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.

Publication of Technical Regulations

The Uganda National Gazette is the primary and official publication for technical regulations, including notices and revised regulations. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards also publishes technical regulations and convenes technical committees to develop, discuss, and receive comments on proposed regulations. U.S. companies can submit comments to draft technical regulations. To identify implications of the regulations, U.S. companies can review technical regulations in the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Catalogue published annually.  

Contact Information 

  • Patricia Bageine Ejalu, Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Deputy Executive Director Standards, pbageine@unbs.go.ug

  • Tatyana Aguirre, U.S. Commercial Service South Africa, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Tatyana.Aguirre@trade.gov

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

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing,” provides access to notifications made by Members of the World Trade Organization 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 is a versatile tool that can be used 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

  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed

  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the World Trade Organization SPS and Technical Barriers to Trade Committees.

Per obligation under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, each World Trade Organization Member operates an Enquiry Point. National Technical Barriers to Trade Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national Technical Barriers to Trade Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the World Trade Organization or 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 World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting 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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