NewsSix new standards to support Ethiopia’s bamboo sector
With support from INBAR, the Institute of Ethiopian Standards recently adopted six national standards on the various applications of bamboo.
As part of its continued efforts to further standardize the bamboo sector, Ethiopia recently adopted six national standards on bamboo furniture, bamboo bicycles, bamboo scaffolding, bamboo incense sticks, bamboo-based activated carbon and bamboo culm grading.
These standards are expected to not only lay the foundation for various bamboo products produced in the country but also contribute to their safety, durability and applicability. New standards also help facilitate domestic trade by removing barriers and promoting bamboo products, structures and services at the national level. National standardization aids countries in building a solid foundation for adopting other International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards to further ensure the quality of products and stimulate economic endeavors, which will be of substantial benefit to the future development of Ethiopia’s bamboo sector.
National and international quality standards are important because they create confidence among end-users to consume products that are reliable and meet quality control benchmarks. These six standards built on Ethiopia’s past successes, such as ratifying seven national bamboo standards in 2021.
INBAR is currently supporting the formulation of more national standards for Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda on bamboo and bamboo-based products. This is part and parcel of the mission of the Dutch-Sino-East Africa Bamboo Development Programme, which ultimately aims to support the regulatory and standardization frameworks of these countries. To date, Kenya and Uganda have become members of ISO Technical Committee 296, while Ethiopia and Kenya have developed four policy briefs, two national strategies and two bamboo policies.
Ethiopia’s six new ratified national standards are:
- ES 6971 2023: Bamboo Furniture
- ES 6972 2023: Bamboo Bicycle
- ES 6973 2023: Bamboo Scaffolding
- ES 6974 2023: Bamboo Incense Sticks
- ES ISO 5946 2023: Bamboo-based Activated Carbon
- ES ISO 19624 2023: Bamboo Culm Grading
