G/SPS/GEN/2202  
 
27 February  2024 
(24-1803) Page: 1/3 
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 27 February 2024 , is being circulated at the request of 
the secretariat of the  Southern African Development Community  (SADC).  
 
_______________  
 
 
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 390 million people and therefore has a high 
responsibility to meet the international sustainable development goals for the betterment of the lives 
of the people  through safe  intra-SADC and international trade th rough the application of relevant  
international standards.  
1.2.  To reduce the risks associated with the movement food and agro -products without unduly 
restricting regional or international trade, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Annex to the 
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Trade  encourages  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 Organization (WTO) Agreement on the 
Application of SPS  Measures , the International P lant Protection Convention (IPPC), the World 
Organi sation for Animal Health ( WOAH ) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).  
2  UPDATES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS ANNEX TO THE SADC PROTOCOL ON 
TRADE  
2.1  SADC SPS Coordinating Committee  
2.1.  The SADC SPS Coordinating Committee is established by Article 14 of the SPS Annex to the 
SADC Protocol on Trade . However , this body has not met physically in the last five years due, in 
part, to the travel restrictions imposed by the COVID -19 pandemic and funding constraints. The  body 
is mandated under the SPS Annex to the SADC Trade protocol to report on SPS -related non -tariff 
barriers; the implementation of the Tripartite  Free Trade Area; the African Continental Free Trade 
Area; and the implementation of regional activities of WOAH  and FAO aimed at facilitating safe trade.  
2.2.  The SADC secretariat  together with  the African Union hosted a meeting of the Food Safety 
Subcommittee  of the SADC SPS Coordinating Committee, convened in Lusaka, Zambia in 
October  2023 to continue the coordination work in the field of food safety.  The meeting was attended 
by representatives of food safety focal points and the private sector in 13 of the 1 6 SADC 
member  States.  
2.2  Transparency  
2.3.  The SADC secretariat is in the process of developing a database for non –tariff measures 
(NTMs). It is often difficult and costly to find the NTMs of some member States whose trading 
partners might desire to access their m arket. Thus, the collection and classification of national NTMs G/SPS/GEN/2202  
 
- 2 - 
 
  into a database would provide an open and systematic source of information for trading partners. 
The system was successfully piloted in five SADC member States in 2023 with further refinements  
including the integration with other sources of data related to the capturing of non -tariff measures 
included. Full implementation of the system is planned for later in 2024.  
2.4.  In October 2023, a situational analysis of the current status of the National No tification 
Authorities (NNAs) and National Enquiry Points (NEPs) for both SPS and TBT obligations in all SADC 
member States was commissioned. Revised best practice guidelines are being produced and training 
for the responsible personnel is planned for Marc h 2024.  
2.5.  The SADC secretariat is facilitating resolution of online reported NTBs and the establishment 
and capacity development of National Focal Points (NFPs) is being supported as part of the 
development programmes mentioned in 3.1. below.  (https://www.tradebarriers.org/about ). 
Currently there are no active unresolved SPS-related NTBs.  
3  UPDATES ON SPS-RELATED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES  
3.1  Plant protection activities  
3.1.  A regional training on the general management of the two banana diseases that threaten the 
reginal food security and trade from 5 -9 June 2023, Johannesburg, South Africa. The training also 
necessitated the development of national contingency plans to manage  the plant pests and diseases. 
The training was conducted in collaboration with FAO and African Union Inter -Phytosanitary Council. 
The training was conducted from 17 -21 July 2023 to all SADC member States on pest risk analysis 
in Lusaka, Zambia in collabor ation with CABI.  
3.2  The SADC -EU Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP)  
3.2.  The TFP addresses regional implementation issues in the areas of Technical Barriers to Trade 
(TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures; customs technical assistance support; and 
the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs). The Programme supports implementation of 
activities under these areas in  order  to improve free movement of goods within the SADC Free Trade 
Area while at the same time reducing the cost of doing business. It a lso ensures that goods from 
the SADC region are traded competitively in the global market. In the last six months, the TFP has 
commissioned successfully concluded studies and several short -term activities of interest to SPS 
matters, which include:  
− the trai ning of small -scale farmers and farmer organizations on SPS compliance to Food safety 
related measures in which some 60 farmers from 14 SADC member States were trained; training 
of medium and small enterprises and business development organizations on stan dards and 
technical regulations that are applicable to their products and that could impact on the trade in 
these products in the region; work was also well advanced in the development of good regulatory 
practice with particular focus on a scientific appro ach to developing SPS measures by developing 
capacity in risk assessment, with training being planned in February 2024. The work builds on 
previous guidance developed on a systematic approach to measuring and monitoring 
SPS measures to prevent them from be coming unintended barriers to trade; guidance on a 
common approach to the recognition of food safety certificates issued related to food products 
in the SADC region and traded between member States was developed in 2021 and validated 
after some revision in 2023 taking into account interviews with authorities at points of entry at 
several border posts in the region. The revised guidance will be used as the basis of a training 
workshop for food safety competent authorities in late February 2024.  
3.3.  Under the TF P several new initiatives were developed and implemented under the programme 
and many opportunities for further assistance in reducing the impediments to trade through better 
alignment and the resolution of differences in measures and associated standards,  the application 
of the standards and the recognition of the results of conformity assessment related to those 
standards were identified. Some of these activities are earmarked for implementation in the next 
few months, funding permitt ing, or will be trans ferred to successor programmes of the SADC EU 
TFP. Such activities include the recommendations for the revision of the SPS annex to the SADC 
protocol on trade with particular attention to the cooperation structures and the possible resolution 
of disputes r elated to SPS -relate d measures; support for the continued functioning of transparency -G/SPS/GEN/2202  
 
- 3 - 
 
  related structures and functions in member States to ensure accurate and current information 
related to all commonly traded commodities; and, the provision, maintenance, population, and 
publicity of central information resources at SADC to support food safety, animal health and plant 
protection while at the same time reducing unnecessary barriers to trade.  
Report by: Dr. Geoff Visser  
SADC Key Expert on Sanitary and Phytosa nitary Measures  
__________