G/SPS/GEN/1744  
 
1 November  2019 
(19-7359) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
COMESA SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY (SPS) ACTIVITIES  
The following communication, received on 25 October  2019, is being c irculated at the request of 
COMESA . 
 
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1.  Since the establishment of the COMESA Free Trade Area, there has been progress in the reduction 
of tariffs which has resulted in increased intra COMESA trade. However, COMESA recognizes that 
inadequate capacity amongst the public and private sectors, coupled with the absence of harmonized 
food safety regulatory frameworks co nstitutes some of the outstanding unresolved NTBs in the 
region. Their impact ranges from restricting trade flows, compounding trade costs and undermining 
the competitiveness of COMESA exporters regionally and globally. To address these challenges, 
COMESA developed the SPS Strategy through a consultative and participatory process. The strategy 
has four result areas:  
1. Public and private sector capacity development needs prioritised and addressed;  
2. Regional leadership, coordination and collaboration on SPS matt ers; 
3. Reduced trading costs associated with SPS measures;  
4. Priority SPS risks managed.  
2.  The COMESA SPS programme works across COMESA and the tripartite to promote a harmonized 
risk based regulatory environment and strengthened biosecurity systems that enhance  food and 
nutrition security and facilitate agricultural trade, exports and investments. Building on past 
achievements that connected SPS services and infrastructure (including laboratory infrastructure) in 
COMESA and the tripartite FTA, COMESA has been wo rking to improve compliance in the public and 
private sectors to unlock trade flows, as well as encourage local and foreign investments in agro -
processing and agri -business. Connecting biosecurity systems, not only enhances market access but 
enables sourci ng of raw material across borders and creates incentives for investments in agro - 
processing and agribusiness.  
3.  Under the tripartite, a list of ten crops that are commonly traded in the COMESA -EAC-SADC 
region was prioritized for harmonization of SPS/phytos anitary measures, namely maize/maize seed, 
wheat, rice, groundnuts, sorghum, beans, cotton, soybeans, sunflower and seed potato. 
Ten tripartite countries, namely : Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Eswatini , Mozambique, 
Tanzania Zimbabwe and Malawi un dertook to harmonize quarantine pest lists and mitigation 
strategies. To date, the countries are on course to develop : (i) a common approach to pest risk 
analysis ; (ii) harmonized quarantine pest lists, for maize and maize grain/ seed, horticulture ; and 
(iii) harmonized mitigation strategies/actions including for the Fall Army Worm (FAW) and the fruit 
fly. Prioritizing risks, promoting  common approaches to risk assessment (e.g. pest risk analysis 
(PRA) for horticulture products or chemical risk assessment  for processed food products) is one way 
of narrowing regulatory barriers that constrain cross -border trade in food and agricultural products. 
In addition, honey, dairy and meat products are some of the value chains that have been identified. 
COMESA has been  working on : (i) connecting biosecurity systems to enable cross border sourcing 
and investments ; (ii) harmonizing SPS regulatory frameworks to secure market access ; and 
(iii) mitigating transboundary biosecurity risks to improve food and nutrition security . 
4.  COMESA food and agricultural products have good opportunities in regional and global markets, 
(either as raw materials or specialty food products). COMESA is currently working to develop and 
adopt sector specific Good Practice Guides, taking into account  the major SPS risks, to build G/SPS/GEN/1744  
 
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  appropriate biosecurity capacity and harmonize competencies across the public and private sectors. 
This will enhance intra -regional and international trade.  
5.  The major issues being addressed are:  
(i) The emergence of more resilien t plant/animal pests and diseases e.g. the Fall Army Worm 
(FAW), that continues to undermine regional food security, regional and international 
trade. COMESA has been monitoring the implementation of national action plans developed 
by the ten tripartite na tional plant protection organizations (NPPOs) in Uganda, Kenya, 
Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Eswatini , Mozambique, Tanzania , Zimbabwe and Malawi to 
update national pest lists, harmonize quarantine pests and adopt common approaches to 
pest risk analysis, as one  of the means to strengthen biosecurity systems for trade and 
food security ; 
(ii) Changes in SPS regulatory requirements of key trade partners, that place new obligations 
on countries. COMESA has been supporting existing and new exporters to respond to trade 
partners SPS regulatory requirements, whenever there are changes. COMESA has been 
supporting and strengthening domestic food systems, promot ing harmonized regulatory 
frameworks and enhanc ing regional food and nutrition security ; 
(iii) Delivering on the four result  areas of the COMESA SPS strategy remains most crucial in 
guiding the harmonization of SPS measures and capacity strengthening. Many initiatives 
at country and regional levels, supported by the governments and development partners 
contribute to the expecte d results. COMESA has developed templates to monitor and track 
progress on the four result areas of the strategy, as well as generate SPS bi -annual reports. 
The reports include success stories and lessons learned ; 
(iv) To improve the participation of enterprise s involved in live animal (beef cattle and small 
ruminant) and meat trade in the regional and international markets and to improve sanitary 
conditions, COMESA has studied export and import trade in major exporting and importing 
member states; major challen ges, including sanitary conditions and Transboundary Animal 
Diseases (TADs), opportunities and solutions  have been identified. Moreover, enterprises 
involved in live animal and meat trade in major exporting and importing countries ha ve 
been mapped ; 
(v) To improve intra -regional and international trade in live animals (beef cattle and small 
ruminant), meat and meat products and sanitary condition s, COMESA has organized 
regional workshop s to discuss on major sanitary challenges, opportunities and the way 
forward to realize safe trade. Moreover, an experience sharing visit to Frigorifico Boran 
Foods Plc in Ethiopi a, a subsidiary of the Allana Group of India,  was organized to share  
experience s on best practice s. The  visit took place at the export abattoir and meat and 
meat product s processing.  
Acknowledgement  
SPS activities in COMESA are supported by member States, the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID) through Regional Development Objectives Grant Agreement 
(RDOAG), European Union through 11 EDF, World Trade Organization through STDF.  
 
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