In an historic achievement for Burundi’s Quality Infrastructure System, the laboratory for Soil Analysis and Food Products (LASPA) of the Institute of Agriculture Science of Burundi (ISABU) and the Chemistry Laboratory of Burundi Bureau of Standards and Quality Control (BBN) have been accredited on the first key parameters to comply with international standards.

The accreditation lends credibility and generates confidence about the lab results at the global level.

“We are proud of being recognized by international bodies. BBN was created in 1992 and after 32 years, it is now accredited for first parameters thanks to MARKUP Burundi Project interventions,” Quality Assurance Director of BBN said.

Since 2018, Quality Infrastructure institutions including the BBN, ISABU, the National Centre of Food Technology (CNTA) and the Plant Protection Directorate (DPV) have been receiving support from the European Union funded EU-EAC MARKUP Burundi project.

Legal framework of the Quality Infrastructure was reviewed and upgraded, and technical and material support was also provided.

Officer in-charge of LASPA appreciating the success said, “The fact of recognizing ISABU laboratory by international bodies as accredited on first parameters is a milestone in the process of being accredited on other parameters. We are grateful for the package of interventions put into place to come up to this achievement. We are encouraged to build on this cornerstone and committed to sustain it. The journey is long but we work to enable private and public sectors to meet market requirements.”

Improved quality is a promise of greater market access for Burundi’s export products.

MARKUP Burundi is indeed a model project which within its duration provided assistance to develop the National Quality Policy of the country, getting it approved and launched by the Government, implementation of several key activities of its action plan and getting the ultimate result of accreditation of its conformity assessment bodies.