G/TBT/GEN/328  
 
2 May 2022 
(22-3440) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
UNIDO  UPDATE TO THE TBT COMMITTEE  
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL  
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (UNIDO)  
This document contains information provided by UNIDO  at the TBT Committee meeting of 
9-11 March  2022 under Agenda Item 5 (Update by Observers).  
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UNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for 
poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO i s 
to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. 
UNIDO 's mandate is anchored in Sustainable Development Goal 9: "Build resilient infrastructure, 
promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fo ster innovation ". 
UNIDO has been the largest multilateral player in quality infrastructure development and a preferred 
partner of many developing countries. For more than 40 years, UNIDO has been supporting partner 
countries to increase their competitivene ss through quality and compliance with standards. UNIDO 's 
approach to QI development is systemic and holistic, from building awareness to helping initiate, 
develop and strengthen a fit -for-purpose QI that runs efficiently and is cost -effective. UNIDO 
promo tes good practice, capacity building and training, and fosters global cooperation in the 
development of standards setting, measurement and compliance along value chains.  
In view of enhancing the capacity of developing countries to participate in global tra de and facilitate 
the implementation of the multilateral agreements including the WTO TBT Agreement, UNIDO 
strengthens national and regional quality infrastructure (QI) systems by defining quality -related 
policies and good governance strategies, strengthen ing metrology, standardization and accreditation 
services, building conformity assessment capacities, enhancing the competitiveness of the private 
sector and promoting quality awareness.  
1  UNIDO 'S ASSISTANCE TO CONTAIN THE COVID -19 PANDEMIC  
1.1.  The COVID -19 pandemic is confronting with unprecedented challenges and new settings, and 
has disrupted the global trade and economic activity with many essential global value chains either 
being halted or sever ely interrupted. The pandemic has clearly shown the relevance of UNIDO 's 
mandate of supporting developing countries and economies in transition in developing local 
productive capacity of key medical products including vaccines, and highlighted the importan ce of 
standards and quality infrastructures in ensuring the availability and quality of key medical goods in 
developing countries.  
Building a Successful Vaccine Manufacturing Business in Lower - and Middle -Income  
Countries:  Lessons from industry leaders an d innovators  
1.2.  In February 2022, as part of its ongoing work to support vaccine production in developing  
countries, UNIDO has published a guidance document entitled "Building a Successful Vaccine  
Manufacturing Business in Lower - and Middle -Income  Countries: Lessons from industry leaders and 
innovators ". The objective of this publication is to highlight the common elements and factors that 
have driven successful and sustainable vaccine manufacturing enterprises in low and middle -income  
countries (LMICs).  G/TBT/GEN/328  
 
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  1.3.  The report presents insights from interviews conducted with six private sector executives who 
have played a key role in the rise of successful vaccine manufacturing firms in LMICs. It offers 
valuable advice and lessons learned to those seeking to develop new vaccine manufacturing 
capabilities that are economically viable and comply with applicable quality standards.  
1.4.  The document is the latest addition to the growing library of UNIDO publications dedicated to 
strengthening the vaccine ma nufacturing industry in LMICs, which can be found here. It testifies to 
the Organization 's ongoing commitment to health industry development in support of building back 
better.  
1.5.  For the text of the publication, please visit:  
https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2022 -01/3249%20 -
%20Unido%20Vaccine%20Manufacturing%20in%20LMIC s%20document%20v4.pdf    
2  UNIDO NEW PUBLICATIONS  
2.1  Standards & Digital Transformation – Good Governance in a Digital Age  
2.1.  UNIDO developed a publication titled "Standards and Digital Transformation: Good Governance 
in a Digital Age ", providing insights into the key drivers of the digital transformation and its 
implications for sustainable development, and highlighting the role of standards in digital 
transformation governance.  
2.2.  The publication offers a comprehensive review of the international landscape undert aken for 
seven of the most -trending digital technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), namely 
artificial intelligence and big data, blockchain/distributed ledger technology, Internet of Things, 
robotics, 3D printing and unmanned aircraft syste ms. 
2.3.  While standardization reflects the different features and scope of impacts of 4IR technologies, 
the publication suggests a core set of distinct principles needed to guide standards developed for 
digital transformation governance, including i) trustwort hiness, ii) inclusiveness, iii) sustainability, 
iv) interoperability, v) safety and security, vi) data privacy, and vii) international collaboration. It 
further calls to action to all stakeholders in the development of regulations and standards to consider  
the outlined principles in their work in order to leverage the opportunities offered by digital 
technologies and thereby contribute to sustainable development for the benefit of all people and the 
planet.  
2.4.  For the text of the publication, please visit:  
https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2021 -
10/Standard_digital_transformation_ONLINE_FINAL.pdf   
2.2  Ensuring Industrial Safety and Security  
2.5.  UNIDO developed a handbook "Ensuring Industrial Safety and Security " in collaboration with 
various partner, aiming to contribute into ushering in a new safety culture worldwide. The publication 
provides an overview of essential concepts for en suring safety and security and depicts modern 
trends in industrial safety management that encompass a broad spectrum of organizational aspects, 
technological safety, and important implications for cybersecurity in light of the COVID -19 pandemic 
and related  disruptions. The publication highlights the importance of collective action at both national 
and international levels to ensure a meaningful shift towards effective industrial safety and security 
practices which are based on a thorough assessment of poten tial risks, accidents and hazards  
2.6.  For the text of the publication, please visit:  
https://hub.unido.org/sites/default/files/publications/Industrial_Safety_Handbook_EN.pdf   
3  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
3.1.  Through various technical cooperation programmes and projects, UNIDO has been supporting 
efforts of many developing countries at national and reg ional level mainly in Africa and Asia, to build 
modern and resilient quality infrastructure systems including conformity assessment and 
standardization for enterprise competi tiveness, value chain development and international market G/TBT/GEN/328  
 
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  access. To name a few, below are two of those technical assistance projects being implemented by 
UNIDO in West Africa and Armenia:  
3.1  Support to upgrade testing laboratories and standards development in Ghana  
3.2.  WACOMP  is a partnership initiative between the Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU). The overall objective of the programme is to strengthen 
the competitiveness of West Africa and to enhance the ECOWAS countries ' integration into the 
regional and international trading system, including the newly established African Continental Free 
Trade Area (AfCFTA). The programme is currently being implemented in the ECOWAS member states 
(Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d 'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea 
Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) and in Mauritania, through 
national components in each country, as well as a regional one.  
3.3.  In Ghana, the programme seeks to improve t he competitiveness of Ghanaian exports with a 
focus on three selected value chains including cosmetics and personal care products. In 2021, 
WACOMP Ghana supported conformity assessment bodies to achieve accreditation, expand scopes 
of accreditation and imp rove management practice by targeting 4 laboratories in the country. In this 
framework:  
• 18 national experts from the above mentioned 4 laboratories have been trained in 
uncertainty calculation in laboratory analysis in preparation for their accreditation;  
• 12 experts from the 4 laboratories have been trained and coached towards ISO 17025  
accreditation  
• The 4 laboratories have been supported in purchasing, installing and calibrating some  of 
the equipment needed to provide SMEs in the cosmetic value chain with  needed  testing 
capacities.  
• The Cosmetics, Food and Physicochemical Laboratory of FDA in Accra undertook a  remote 
assessment by the internationally recognized National Accreditation Board  (ANAB) of the 
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and has b een accredited  effective since 
June 2021, putting the Laboratory in the lead with the largest ISO  accreditation scope in 
Africa.  
• Development or revision of 16 standards has been supported, targeting products such  
as shea-based  cosmetics, and alcohol -based  hand sanitizers, which is vital for  
containing COVID -19 pandemic.  
 
3.4.  For more information, please refer to: https://wacompghana.org/about/  
3.2  Support to Quality Infrastructure in Armenia  
3.5.  UNIDO develop ed together with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia a  technical 
cooperation project "Support to Quality Infrastructure in Armenia " funded by the  EU, to support the 
quality infrastructure development especially the metrology system in the  country, to support 
Armenia in implementing trade agreements resulting in improved trade  competitiveness and 
meaningful utilization of trade benefits.  
3.6.  More specifically, the project will support to upgrade the metrology system of Armenia through 
institutio nal strengthening of the National Body for Standards and Metrology, and  improving legal, 
regulatory and governance systems in line with international  recommendations and best practices, 
and increase Armenia 's participation in the  international and regional  metrology communities.  
3.7.  It is expected that, as a result of this project, sustainable and internationally recognized  
metrology services could be provided to public and private stakeholders, to support their  efforts in 
improving the quality of goods produce d and ensuring international recognition of  tests performed 
in Armenia, resulting in reduced conformity assessment costs and increased  trade with the EU and 
other foreign markets.  
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