Kenya National Bureau of Standard (KEBS) has instructed the manufacturers of ‘fake’ brands of hand sanitisers to recall them out of the Market, citing them as products desirous of constant surveillance and monitoring.

“The manufacturers should verify with KEBS whether all the batches are compliant to the set standards. They are to institute effective corrective actions whose effectiveness shall be confirmed by KEBS before resumption of production and placement of the brands in the market,” KEBS.

The Bureau confirms that the action is not a ban of the Hand Sanitiser brands but a temporary suspension until the products comply with the Kenya Standard and urges the public to notify KEBS when they find the brands below in the market through our toll-free number 1545.

KEBS conducts factory inspections, product certifications and market surveillance activities to monitor the quality of products sold to Kenyans at varied points of sale to give an assurance to the public on the status of the products they buy. As part of product certification scheme, KEBS issues standardization mark (S-Mark) permits to manufacturers for products whose compliance to standards has been ascertained.

It also collects samples from the market to ensure that the products placed in the market by the operators have adhered to the requirements on the S-Mark and by extension, the relevant standard.

The bureaus responsibility is to keep the public informed of the compliance status of products, including Hand Sanitisers, to enable consumers make informed choices in line with the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

Being a facilitator of trade and manufacturing, it is committed to working closely with the affected manufacturers to ensure that such non-compliances do not recur. Upon satisfactory resolution and conclusion of the issues, it informs the public once the products have met the requirements of the Kenya Standards.

Substandard products can be reported to Wajibika Na KEBS. To verify whether the S-Mark permit on your product is valid, send the code underneath the S-Mark to 20023 (SM#Code) to get product-manufacturing details. If the details are different, invalid or not traceable to the platform, kindly report to KEBS through Toll Free Number 1545.

“If you are aware of any kind of foul play by any manufacturer, also report those cases to KEBS through the toll-free number,” KEBS.

Below is a list of hand sanitizer brands with their matching batch numbers that were tested and did not comply with the various requirements of the Standards Act and EAS 789: East African Standard Specification for Instant Hand Sanitisers.

TABLE 1: Non-compliant Hand Sanitiser Brands

By Patricia Okumu