26 October 2013, Dar es Salaam – Tanzianian motorists should now think twice before buying engine oils, or other forms of lubricants following discovery of presence of substandard engine oils, brake fluids and other forms of lubricant products scattered across the country.
It was just in a span of a day since the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) issued a public warning on the presence of the inferior lubricants when one City dealer Ms Zib Enterprises saw its godown being closed down yesterday for keeping the products suspected to have been imported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the TBS Principal Standards Officer Mr Nickonia Mwabuka, of late the Bureau has come across rampant importation and supply of inferior lubricants which is extremely dangerous to life of motor vehicles engines.
“Our inspectors carried out market surveillance and discovered that Zaib Enterprise was involved in supplying substandard oils and lubricants,” he alleged, adding: “We have now closed it down for more investigations and actions according to the law.
TBS officials and the police had to ensure tight security and close supervision as the godown, situated at Vingunguti area in Ilala Municipality was being closed down and sealed with heavy duty lockers.
As an exercise to nab more other importers and suppliers of the substandard products has been officially launched, TBS has warned all dealers and motorist to be careful when purchasing and changing oils and lubricants for their vehicle engines or else incur massive loss.
One of the substandard lubricants illegally traded in the local market is branded as MEEZAN imported from the UAE and obtaining forged International Standards Organisation (ISO) logo on it.
Following the tests done at the Bureau’s laboratories last week, it was discovered that almost all tests failed quality parameters and are thus unfit for application in all types of engines.
And in the public notice released on Friday, TBS also warned dealers and sellers of lubricants to stop supplying substandard products including the imitated TBS certified ‘Stanley brands’ that are below specifications.
The Bureau, according to the notice, was now in the final stages of investigations and will soon publish a list of substandard lubricant oils available in the market.
– Tanzania Daily News