Metrology Agency marks 2025 gains with new approvals

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The Zambia Metrology Agency (ZMA) has announced significant achievements in the first half of 2025, including the type approval of seven new models of measuring instruments for the Zambian market.

Type approval is the formal process through which ZMA evaluates and certifies measuring instruments to ensure they meet legal, technical, and performance requirements before being used for trade.

Between January and June 2025, the agency successfully calibrated 2,213 instruments and standards, surpassing its target of 2,073 an achievement rate of 107 percent, according to ZMA Executive Director Humphrey Nkobeni.

Speaking during a mid-year performance review press briefing, Mr. Nkobeni said the agency also conducted 38,735 statutory verifications against a target of 37,728, representing a performance of 103 percent.

“This above-target performance demonstrates ZMA’s unwavering commitment to promoting measurement accuracy, reliability, and compliance across key sectors, including manufacturing, mining, energy, agriculture, health, and trade,” he said.

He has said that by exceeding its targets, ZMA is enhancing consumer protection through accurate trade measurements, supporting industrial efficiency by ensuring precision in production processes, facilitating fair regional and international trade through traceable standards, and contributing to Zambia’s Vision 2030 and the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP).

During the period under review, ZMA inspected 444,908 locally produced prepackaged commodities, achieving an overall compliance rate of 95.2 percent. Products inspected included:

Mealie meal – 97.3% compliance

Flour – 99.3%

Roofing sheets – 100%

Cement – 89.8%

Building/construction blocks – 100%

Putty – 99%

Tile fix – 100%

Animal feed – 98%

Agricultural fertilizer – 100%

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – 100%

“All these products surpassed the set compliance target of 92 percent,” Mr. Nkobeni said.

Regarding imported prepackaged commodities, Mr. Nkobeni said ZMA inspected 1,689,845 products, achieving a compliance rate of 98 percent, also above the 92 percent target.

He has said that the agency received 15 complaints from the public concerning petroleum and construction commodities.

All complaints were investigated, corrective actions were taken, and the matters have been fully resolved, Mr. Nkobeni confirmed.

He has further disclosed that ZMA has continued progress in its annual second-round statutory verification of instruments in the petroleum subsector.

The exercise, which started in July 2025, involves fuel pumps at retail service stations, bulk flowmeters at oil marketing companies and government facilities, and master meters.

“Our target is to verify 8,500 fuel pumps nationwide. As of July, we had verified 6,981 pumps,” he said, adding that the exercise is on track to be completed by the end of the week.

Ends…………………………

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