Standards Act

This Act may be cited as the Standards Act.

Defines terms used in the Act (for example "approved specification", "Bureau", "code of practice", "consolidator", "Council", "Director", "inspector", "Kenya Standard", "manufacture", "mark", "permit", "sell", "specification", "standardization mark", and "Tribunal").

The text refers to the Bureau in the context of "suing and being sued."

Section 4 lists the functions of the Bureau, assigning it powers to promote standardization, provide testing and calibration facilities, examine and test commodities, control standardization marks, prepare specifications and codes, undertake education on standardization, assist government and others with standards, cooperate to secure adoption of standards, and test goods at the Cabinet Secretary's request.

The Cabinet Secretary must, on the advice of the Council and by notice in the Gazette, appoint a Director of the Bureau who shall be the chief executive officer; the Council must, after consultation with the Director, appoint members and staff as necessary.

The Bureau may liaise with government agencies that register businesses to obtain information on businesses registered to undertake manufacturing.

Establishes the National Standards Council and sets its membership and appointing powers, including the Cabinet Secretary's appointment powers and the Council's duty to regulate its procedure.

Section 7 lists powers of the Council including supervising and controlling the Bureau's administration and finances; advising and obtaining advice from the Cabinet Secretary; formulating policy guidance for the Institute; doing all things necessary to carry out the Act; and, upon payment of prescribed fees, issuing reports and imposing conditions on their use and disclosure.

The Council must submit required information and an audited annual report to the Cabinet Secretary; the Auditor-General must examine, audit and report annually on the Bureau's accounts.

The Bureau issues permits to use standardization marks when satisfied a manufacturer can meet the relevant Kenya Standard or approved specification; persons must not apply such marks except under a Bureau permit and must comply with permit conditions, and contravention is an offence.

The Bureau may cancel or suspend a permit if conditions are not complied with, if the commodity is not manufactured to the relevant Kenya Standard or approved specification, or if manufacturing has ceased; suspension may be for a period not exceeding one year, and subsection (1) is additional to prosecution powers under the Act.

The Cabinet Secretary may make a standards levy order to implement Council proposals approved by him; orders may set evidence, due dates, recovery methods, add late-payment percentages, create offences for non-compliance, and allow appeals to the Tribunal.

The Director may make payments out of the standards levy fund, acting on the direction of the Cabinet Secretary, for the purposes set out in section 8(2).

A manufacturer must ensure every product is designed and manufactured in accordance with this Act.

A person aggrieved by a Bureau or Council decision may appeal in writing to the Tribunal within fourteen days of receiving notification.

The Cabinet Secretary must, after a Kenya Standard is declared and on the advice of the Council, set by Gazette order a date after which persons must not manufacture or sell the covered commodity, method or procedure unless it complies with the specified standard; contravention (absent an exemption under subsection (3)) is an offence.

This section lets the Bureau request information, requires manufacturers and business operators to withdraw or recall non‑conforming products, requires business operators to cooperate with the Bureau, prohibits certain persons from placing non‑conforming imports on the market, and allows the Cabinet Secretary to make regulations.

The Bureau may designate accredited competent bodies to provide testing services and issue test certificates; designated laboratories that issue incorrect or incomplete results commit an offence and may commit offences by contravening listed conditions.

The Bureau must be accredited by the Kenya Accreditation Service to provide national calibration services; it is custodian of national measurement standards, must maintain traceability to the SI and provide inter-comparison measurements, and may license/register competent accredited bodies and issue certificates.

Calibration service providers must reference their measurement standards to the national standards; the Cabinet Secretary may make regulations to designate categories of instruments to be calibrated; the Regulations may set a timeframe after which uncalibrated instruments cannot be used.

The Cabinet Secretary may appoint inspectors (on the Council's request and by notice in the Gazette). Every person so appointed must be either a public officer or a member of the Institute's staff and must be furnished with a certificate of appointment signed by the Director authorizing them to act as an inspector.

Section 14 gives inspectors powers to enter and inspect premises, take samples, require and examine documents, seize and detain goods and documents for testing or evidence, produce a certificate on request, and makes it an offence to resist, hinder or wilfully fail to comply with an inspector acting in the course of his duty.

Inspectors may order destruction of goods that fail standards or are dangerous; owners may be required to pay destruction costs; fourteen days' notice and an appeal to the Tribunal are provided; inspectors and others are protected from personal liability for good-faith acts, but specified corrupt acts by inspectors or those offering bribes are offences punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, a fine up to one million shillings, and forfeiture.

Inspectors may conditionally release or order retention of goods pending testing; inspectors must ensure samples are tested and results released within fourteen days; dealing with goods before results is an offence.

The Bureau must, in consultation with the Kenya Revenue Authority, vet and register all air and sea cargo consolidators before they import cargo; companies must apply as prescribed by the Cabinet Secretary; unregistered consolidators who import commit an offence punishable by a fine up to one million shillings or imprisonment up to one year, or both.

The Bureau may appoint an inspection body in the country of origin of goods to verify conformity to Kenya Standards or approved specifications.

Section 15 sets general penalties: persons convicted where no specific penalty exists face imprisonment or fines (amounts vary by first or repeat offence), continuing offences attract daily fines; the Court may confiscate and destroy goods, prohibit manufacture or sale pending complaint determination, and interim prohibition orders may be made on inspector application.

The Cabinet Secretary may make regulations allowing specified certificates to be received as evidence in proceedings, subject to the section's conditions.

Establishes a Standards Tribunal composed of a Chairman and four members appointed by the Cabinet Secretary; sets member qualifications, composition, appointment of a secretary, terms of office, grounds and procedure for inquiry by a Conduct Tribunal, and reporting within thirty days of inquiry conclusion.

The Cabinet Secretary must pay Tribunal members remuneration and allowances as the Cabinet Secretary determines.

Upon an appeal under this Act, the Tribunal may confirm, set aside or vary the decision or act in question and may make other orders, including orders about payment of costs.

Director may refer complex or important matters to the Tribunal; the Director must notify parties who are entitled to be heard; the Bureau and Director must follow the Tribunal's directions subject to appeal to the High Court.

The Chairman of the Tribunal may appoint expert advisors from a panel; members of the Council and employees of the Bureau may not be appointed.

A party to proceedings before the Tribunal may appeal the decision of the Tribunal to the High Court.

The Cabinet Secretary may make rules for regulating the practice and procedure of the Tribunal; the Tribunal may regulate its own procedure subject to those rules.

Compliance with a Kenya Standard, approved specification, or use of a standardisation mark does not give rise to any claim against the Government, the Council, the Bureau, or their members or employees.

Persons engaged in administering the Act must not disclose information obtained in performing their functions, except when disclosing for the exercise of those functions or when required by a court or any written law.

Employers must not dismiss, reduce pay, or otherwise worsen the employment conditions of an employee because they believe or suspect the employee gave information to an inspector, complied with an inspector's lawful requirement, or gave evidence under the Act.

The Cabinet Secretary may, after consulting the Council, make regulations to implement this Act; subsection (2) lists specific regulatory powers including prescribing fees, forms, appeals procedure, information requirements and Bureau procedures.

If a specification declared to be a Kenya Standard under section 9(1) conflicts with a specification made or declared under any other written law, the Kenya Standard prevails.

Section 14C(2)(d) shall not apply to any company that was in the business of consolidation before the commencement of this Act.