G/SPS/GEN/2160  
 
30 October 2023  
(23-7310) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
ECOWAS IMPLEMENTED SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY ACTIVITIES  
DURING THE PERIOD OF AUGUST - NOVEMBER 2023  
COMMUNICATION FROM ECOWAS -USAID SENIOR SANITARY  
AND PHYTOSANITARY (SPS) STANDARDS ADVISOR  
The following communication, received on 30 October 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
Economic Community of West African States  (ECOWAS).  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its partners work to imple ment 
and address SPS -related issues at regional level that contribute to the vision to create an economic 
union and common market. In line with this objective, ECOWAS is implementing many agreements 
designed to support the free movement of goo ds and people throughout the region.  
1.2.  In view of improving and strengthening SPS activities in the ECOWAS and Sahel region, the 
following activities were implemented during the period of August to November 2023.  
2  FOOD SAFETY  
2.1  Validation workshop of the "Risk -based Harmonized Sanitary Inspection and 
Decision -Making Guide"  
2.1.  The purpose of this guide is to provide a harmonized risk -based sanitary inspection and 
decision -making procedure within ECOWAS and the Sahel region. Specific objectives include : 
• to ensu re safe food trade ; 
• to increase transparency in risk -based food inspection ;  
• to accelerate product release to reduce costs of border operations ; 
• to initiate acceptance of sanitary certificates and implementation of mutual recognition 
agreements ; 
• to share i nformation on inspections and quality defects among regulators and the ECOWAS 
commission at the regional level ; 
• to encourage greater harmonization of sanitary inspection protocols to guarantee the quality 
requirements for compliance to standards ; 
• to facili tate market access of safe food.  
2.2.  A regional validation workshop of the risk-based harmonized sanitary inspection and decision -
making guide was organized from 4 -6 October 2023  in Abidjan, C ôte d'Ivoire with the support of 
partners. It is expected that this harmonized sanitary guide will be disseminated and training of 
sanitary inspectors and other food safety competent authorities at national level conducted in the 
coming months.  
2.2  Establishing and operationalize technical working groups on SPS  
2.3.  In 2022, the SPS advisor in collaboration with other partners and countries established the 
West Africa and Sahel food safety convergence forum. Furthermore, there was effective coordination 
on food safety mea sures among countries to provide improved guidance and enhanced coordination 
for conformity assessments and food inspection regimes. This activity helped to achieve a high level G/SPS/GEN/2160  
 
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  of coordination with systematic prioritization of food standards development b ased on their 
amenability to being more easily harmonized at regional level, using a scientific rationale.  
2.4.  Taking this further, in August 2023, the West Africa and Sahel technical working groups on 
data generation for Codex work has been established. Thre e (3) technical working groups ( TWGs, 
pesticides and veterinary drugs residues, contaminants and microbiological and food hygiene) 
towards C odex work ha ve been established with clear objectives including to:  
• generate data to strengthen Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR), Codex 
Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF), Codex Committee on 
Contaminants in Food (CCCF), Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) ; 
• promote national, regional and international cooperation and information  sharing;  
• promote access to accredited methods across the region; build and operationalize 
(strengthen) a network of experts;  
• contribute to evidence policies and regulations at national, regional and international levels.  
2.5.  Thus, a regional meeting on TWGs  was held from 28 -30 August 2023 in Lom é, Togo and it was 
supported by USDA -FAS/UMAP/University of Missouri, WHO and FAO.  
2.6.  Next step:  sub-committee -specific work plans will be developed annually to meet specific 
needs, however , the following general topics are envisioned to occur over the course of the 
subsequent months/years (up to three  years) (2024 -2026):  
• Develop national and regional mechanism for food safety risk assessment with terms of 
reference ; 
• Develop a harmonized mode l risk assessment protocol and report (GEMS FOOD format) ; 
• Support annual meetings of the risk assessment management body ; 
• Workshop on risk (re) -ranking, prioritization (held) ; 
• Data collection for risk assessment food commodity:  pathogen/hazard combination (e.g. , 
prevalence, surveys, field trials, other) ; 
• Risk assessment exercise and laboratory analysis . 
3  PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FORA  
3.1  Participation in the 1st inaugural meeting of the African Food Regulatory Autho rities 
Forum (AFRAF), 11 -13 October 2023, Cairo, Egypt  
3.1.  This forum is a coordinating continental platform on matters related to food safety, and 
promoting collaborative African Food Regulatory Frameworks, in Support of the Implementation of 
the Food Safety Strategy for Africa 2022/2036, and the Operationalization of the African Food Safety 
Agency (AFSA) to be established by 2025. During this inaugural meeting, a draft declaration related 
to the Establishment  of the African Food Regulatory Authorities Forum i s proposed. This draft is sent 
to countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) including ECOWAS for comment. It is 
expected to be finalized by December 2023. Further, the senior SPS lead of ECOWAS participated in 
two panel discussion s on (i) vTPA use  and potential scaling up in the member States of ECOWAS, 
(ii) review of current collaborative food safety regulatory agenda at continental and regional levels.  
3.2  Participation in the USDA SPS and scientific exchange programme, Iowa State 
University, Missis sippi , United States of America, and participation in the 2023 Norman E, 
Borlaug International Dialogue, World Food Prize, 22 October  – 3 November 2023  
3.2.  A highly informative and engaging workshop organized to provide valuable insights and 
practical knowledge on Climate -Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) 
topics. The senior SPS lead of ECOWAS facilitated and led a session on the dev elopment of a strategy 
on food safety and climate smart agriculture for Africa. The draft strategy will be finalized in the 
coming weeks. Further, participation in the 2023 Norman E, Borlaug International Dialogue, World 
Food Prize. At this meeting contact s were made for potential collaboration with international 
organization s. Follow -ups will be implemented in the coming months.  
4  GENERAL CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD  
4.1.  The ECOWAS Commission takes this opportunity to thank all partners for their continuing 
suppo rt in advancing SPS -related issues in the ECOWAS and Sahel sub -region, and to call for more 
collaboration, technical assistance and support for future implementation . 
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