Director General for MBS, Davlin Chokazinga said the Bureau will ensure a conducive environment for rural farmers, so that they benefit from the sale of their farm produce.

“We go around informing the public the importance of using recommended trade scales,” said Chokazinga adding that the non-trade scales only benefit the owners of the scale because they allow the traders to steal from the rural farmers.

Chokazinga said it is pathetic to see farmers cheated by some traders and at the end this perpetuates poverty among the farmers. He however appealed to the public to be alert and report any suspicious act to relevant authorities to end the malpractice of using uncertified scales as the authorized scales are those with a sticker labeled MBS.

Chokazinga further said the Bureau is going around the country to ensure that all traders are well sensitized on the importance of using scales certified by the Malawi Bureau of Standards.

However, Chokazinga expressed optimism that soon there shall be fair trading on the market as the Bureau is working tirelessly to combat the malpractice of stealing from farmers through using scales which are not acceptable.

The Bureau has so far managed to confiscate some of the uncertified weighing scales from traders since the inception of the campaign exercise.

Meanwhile, Parliament has passed the Metrology bill which will help MBS to get rid of non-trade scales in the country. The bill will help end theft as the non-trade scales can be easily adjusted.