G/SPS/GEN/1916  
 
16 June 2021 
(21-4924) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
SADC SECRETARIAT REPORT  ON SPS ACTIVITIES  
SADC REPORT TO THE WTO  COMMITTEE ON  SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
The follow ing communication, received on 15 June 2021, is being circulated at the request of the  
secretariat of the  Southern African Development Community  (SADC).  
 
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1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region consists of 16 member States 
namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswat ini, Lesotho , 
Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique , Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia 
and Zimbabwe. The region has a population of 345 million people and therefore has a high 
responsibility to meet the international sustainable development goals for the betterment of the lives 
of the peopl e through safe  intra-SADC and international trade th rough the application of relevant  
international standards.  
1.2.  Plant pests and animal diseases can inadvertently be transported along with commodities 
thereby threatening the agricultural production and envir onment of the importing country. Food and 
feed may be contaminated with pesticide residues or other chemical toxins. To reduce these risks 
without unduly restricting regional or international trade in food and agro -products, the Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary (SPS) Annex to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on 
Trade allows SADC member States to adopt harmoni zed or scientifically justified SPS measures. 
This is in line with the implementation of the requirements of the World Trade Organi zation (WTO) 
Agreement on the Application of SPS Measures, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), 
the World Organi sation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).  
2  UPDATES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS ANNEX SADC  PROTOCOL ON TRADE  
2.1  Harmoni zation  
2.1.  In accordance with Article 6 (Harmonization) of the SPS Annex to the SADC Protocol on Trade, 
SADC secretariat and member States participated in the virtual African Union (AU) Consultative 
Meeting on the Development of the Plant Health Strategy for Africa which was on 1 -4 June 2021 and 
presented a joint common position with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa 
(COMESA). Agriculture is central to the African economy, accounting for about 40 per cent of Gross 
Domestic Product, 15 percent of exports and between 60 to 80 percent of employment on the 
continent. Development of the Plant Health Strategy will provide guidance and direction to the 
much -needed plant health efforts in mitigating emerging a nd re -emerging plant health threats and 
facilitating safe trade in food and agro -products.  
2.2.  The SADC secretariat and member States participated in the virtual African Union (AU) 
Consultative Meeting on the Development of the Food Safety Strategy for Africa which was on 
8-11 June 2021 and presented a joint common position with the Common Market for Eastern and 
Southern Africa (COMESA). The Continental Food Safety Strategy will contribute to the operation of 
a science -based and efficient food regulatory enviro nment, enhanced compliance leading to delivery 
of safer agri -food value chains across the continent, a reduced foodborne disease burden in Africa, G/SPS/GEN/1916  
 
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  and improved competitiveness of Africa's food commodities for increased intra -African and global 
trade.  
2.3.  The S ADC secretariat and member States participated in the 11th Meeting of the Tripartite 
Technical Working Group (TWG) on TBT -SPS-NTB organised by East African Community (EAC), 
COMESA and SADC. The meeting was held from 27 -28 April 2021 via video conference. The  objective 
of the meeting was to consider the draft working procedures and tools for the  implementation of 
Annex IX on SPS and Annex VIII on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), outstanding matters in the 
Non-tariff Barriers (NTBs) Working Procedures and work programme for the Technical Working 
Group for 2021/2022.  
2.2  Administration  
2.4.  The SADC secretariat participated in the 55th SADC Trade Negotiation Forum (TNF) held 
virtually on 17 -19 May 2021. According to Article 14 (Administration) of the SPS Annex to the SADC 
Protocol on Trade, member State s are required to establish a National Committee on SPS Measures 
and appoint two representatives on the SADC SPS Coordinating Committee. The Secretariat reported 
to TNF that at the 11th meeting of the SADC S PS Coordinating Committee held in November 2019, 
in South Africa, only four member States namely, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe had 
confirmed that they had functional National SPS Coordinating Committees. TNF recommended that 
member States shou ld, whilst using the proposed SADC National SPS Committee Model as a guide, 
utilise structures that are already existent at national level and formally appoint permanent members 
of the National SPS Committee and notify the SPS Committees and key SPS focal appointees to the 
TBT/SPS Unit of the SADC secretariat by 30 October 2021.  
3  UPDATES ON SPS RELATED EU SUPPORTED PROGRAMMES  
3.1  The SADC -EU Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP)  
3.1.  The Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) focuses its attention on the SADC Protocols on T rade 
and Trade in Services to support implementation of the EU - SADC Economic Partnership Agreement 
(EPA). The TFP addresses regional implementation issues in the areas of: TBT and SPS measures; 
Customs technical assistance support; and the EU -SADC Econom ic Partnership Agreement (EPAs). 
During the period under review, the Programme facilitated a virtual regional training of trainers 
workshop for small -scale farmers on 10 -21 May 2021. The purpose of the training was to enhance 
compliance to phytosanitary re quirements for market access for agro -products. Furthermore, the 
Programme is also facilitating a virtual regional training workshop on General Testing/Calibration 
Laboratories and Inspection bodies in member States in the relevant Conformity Assessments 
Standards. The purpose of the training is to capacitate the conformity assessment personnel in SADC 
member States in order to improve their competence.  
Report by: Mr. Chiluba Mwape  
SADC Key Expert on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
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