Throughout February and March, MARKUP II actively participated in key EAC standards subcommittees, including the Quality Assurance, Metrology, Standards Management, Codex, TBT, and Testing subcommittees. During these sessions, the programme presented its Year One progress report and aligned Year Two activities with subcommittee workplans for 2025/26.
In February, MARKUP II also supported a two-week training program at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa. Eight laboratory scientists from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Sudan took part in the hands-on training, which focused on the production of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs). This effort is helping to strengthen the region’s capacity and improve the quality infrastructure of testing laboratories across EAC Partner States.
MARKUP II continued to support efforts to accredit Proficiency Testing (PT) services in Kenya (KEBS), Tanzania (TBS), and Uganda (UNBS). In February, a meeting was held with PT focal points and an ITC expert to review documentation and track progress, with accreditation targeted for July 2025.
As part of its broader mission, MARKUP II also facilitated expert meetings to review and update the EAC Roadmap for CRM production capacity. These meetings included a review of procedures for designating testing laboratories and evaluating top-performing EAC Technical Committees (TCs). For the first time, the EAC introduced a recognition system for outstanding TCs. Awards were presented to the 2023 winner, the 2024 winner, and two runners-up during the April Standards Committee meeting in Arusha. Discussions also highlighted areas for improving the recognition process and aligning it with the EAC Quality Award framework.
