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Libreville, Gabon 6/12/24 – Experts in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary issues from the continent reiterated in Libreville (Gabon) the need for harmonisation and the adoption of African standards to deal with the integration of good practices at the global level.
These positions were taken at an African Union coordination and consultative forum on sanitary and phytosanitary matters, which took place from 2-6 December, and which expects the AU Commission, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to play a leading role in encouraging the implementation of voluntary third-party guarantee and electronic certification tools.
It was also decided that the AUC should urge RECs and member states to use the P-IMA electronic system to prioritise SPS investments in support of assessment and capacity instruments.
In line with the recommendations of sanitary and phytosanitary experts to ensure good practices, the AfCFTA should collaborate with the AUC to integrate regulatory practices into the mapping exercise of existing SPS measures in priority value chains, both for crops (cereals), fish and beef in selected Member States.
“The AfCFTA should collaborate with the AUC to identify and organise thematic learning events for Member States, including planned capacity building workshops on food safety for the private sector in collaboration with technical partners,” the document reads.
Support for member states on cross-cutting SPS issues related to climate change, with a particular focus on the implementation of sustainability standards, is one of the recommendations to be considered soon.
The training aspect has not been ruled out, so participants at the event want to see aspects of risk analysis in organic safety (ARSO), on good practices in financial subsidies to share knowledge on management throughout the life cycle of subsidies, for the benefit of grantors and beneficiaries.
Finally, they urged the African Union Commission, in collaboration with Agenda2063 and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to lead the review of the AU’s SPS policy framework and complete the testing of best practice tools for presentation to the Continent’s Specialised Technical Committee (CTE-ARDWE) in October or November 2025.
