G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
20 April 2020  
(20-3139) Page: 1/8 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
RECENT ACTIVITIES BY ARSO  
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE  AFRICAN REGIONAL STANDARDS ORGANI SATION  
This document contains information provided by  ARSO  at the TBT Committee meeting  of 
26-27 February 2020 under Agenda Item 5 (Observers).  
 
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1   INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The push for Promoting Africa 's integration and industrialisation, and addressing the challenges 
of the Non -Tariff Barriers to Trade, especially the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTS) in the form of 
Standards,  Technical Regulations, Conformity Assessment, Metrology and Accreditation, is back on 
Africa 's economic policy agenda with renewed impetus and drive as guided by the AU Agenda 2063 
and the 2030 Global agenda for sustainable development and exemplified by the proclaiming 
2016-25 as the third industrial development decade for Africa by the United Nations General 
Assembly in July 2016, and the agreement by the G20 to support Africa 's industrialisation as part of 
its action plan in September 2016.  
1.2.  With the si gning of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement by 
54 countries and ratification by 29 African countries, and with the Agreement entering into force by 
31st May 2019, and operational phase by 1 st July 2019, pending the commencement of r eal trade 
among the State Parties as from 1 st July 2020, Africa is indeed entering a defining moment in its 
quest for Economic integration, industrialisation and transformation, with improved trade among the 
African countries and with the rest of the world  on the Agenda.  
1.3.  There is hope that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which entered into force 
on 30 May 2019, and operational phase in July 2019, and expected to be fully operationalized in July 
2020, has the potential to increase intra -African trade by 52.3% by eliminating import duties and to 
double this trade if non -tariff barriers, especially the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTS) are also 
reduced (UNECA 2018).  
1.4.  Even though Trade and policy Experts Agree that Africa might be entering a new phase in its 
pursuit to boost intra -African trade, deepen regional integration and expand its horizon in 
international trading systems, through the AfCFTA Trade Deal, they unanimously agree that this 
would only happen if the AfCFTA can be shaped as a c omprehensive legal framework suitable for 
21st century Free Trade Areas challenges, including designing a continental scheme to deal with 
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs - Standards, technical regulations and Conformity assessment 
regimes, as major incon sistencies among countries ' and Regions ' (RECs) Standards, technical 
regulations and Conformity assessment regimes, as a major obstacle for trade, remain.  
1.5.  It is evident that with different Regional Economic Communities (RECS – EAC, SADC, COMESA, 
EAC) African countries face the challenge of variation in certification, testing, inspection practices, 
and standards used by different countries on the basis of the WTO Agreement 's obligation and rights, 
making TBTs prevalent across Africa´s regional groupings , despite positive efforts made in 
harmonisation, reporting and monitoring mechanisms.  G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  1.1  TBTs Challenge Under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement  
1.6.  Under the AfCFTA Agreement, Annex 6 on TBT , Article 3 , "the African State Parties reaffirm 
their rights and obligations under the WTO TBT Agreement in respect of the preparation, adoption, 
and application of standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures and related 
activities ", (John Keyser 2012 - Policy Note no. 33 , July 2012 , www.worldbank.org/afr/trade ). This 
means that:  
a. African governments will introduce more and more regulatory requirements to address  
inter alia health, safety or environmental issues in accorda nce with the WTO TBT 
Agreement and the rights and obligation of members  
b. Consumers will demand safety and quality assurance  
c. Private and public authorities will continue to scrutinise imported/exported goods for 
compliance, as provided for by the WTO Agree ment.  
d. Producers, increasingly, will need reputable evidence that their products and services meet 
regulatory, technical and other requirements, meaning, therefore, that  
e. African countries would be confronted with the main challenge of the need to improve the 
quality of regulation to remove the NTMs (TBTs) in goods, and to deliver competitive 
markets while achieving essential public policy objectives as per Article 3 of Annex 6.  
1.2  The TBT Opportunities under the AfCFTA Agreement  
1.7.  To counterbalance, the antic ipated challenges of the TBTs arising from the AfCFTA TBT 
Annex  6, article 3, the ACFTA initiative offers African countries a great long -term opportunity to 
address the TBTs issues. For example:  
a. the AfCFTA Agreement, Annex 6 on TBT, under Article 5: Field s of Cooperation, has 
provided that States Parties shall cooperate in the development and implementation of 
standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, accreditation, 
metrology, capacity building and enforcement activities.  
b. Further  in Article 6.2 b, c, d and f respectively, calls on the State parties to adopt the 
harmonised African standards by ARSO and AFSEC, based on international standards, 
guidelines and recommendations, and the WTO TBT Agreement  
c. This is aligned with the provis ions of Article 8.1 of Annex 7 on SPS on Harmonisation where 
States Parties shall cooperate in the development and harmonisation of sanitary or 
phytosanitary measures based on international standards, guidelines and 
recommendations.  
1.8.  As this happens, the S tandardisation community and Trade Experts are much aware that, Due 
to their Mandate and Influence on the establishment of the Legal and Institutional Framework for 
Regulatory Compliance, the Quality Infrastructure bodies in Africa (ARSO and the National B ureau 
of Standards, included) have a decisive influence on the question "to what degree Technical Barriers 
to Trade presents a stepping stone or rather a stumbling block towards the implementation of the 
African Continental Free Trade Area?, and are theref ore repositioning to take advantage of the 
opportunities offered by the AfCFTA Agreement under Annex 6 on TBTs and Annex 7 on SPS to 
cooperate in the development, harmonisation, and implementation of standards, technical 
regulations, conformity assessment procedures, accreditation, metrology; capacity building and 
awareness creation, in the context of the WTO TBT Agreement.  
2  ABOUT ARSO  
2.1.  Admitted as an Observer member of the WTO TBT Committee in November 2015, ARSO is an 
intergovernmental Organisation establ ished by the Organization of African Unity (OAU, currently 
African Union (AU)) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in 1977, with 
21 African Governments as founder members, and hosted by the Government of the Republic of G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  Kenya on D iplomatic Status. Currently, ARSO has 38 member States (Algeria, Benin, Botswana, 
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d 'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti 
(just signed membership documents), Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bis sau, Guinea, 
Kenya, Liberia, New State of Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, 
Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, 
Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and with Zanzibar being a paying member).  
2.1  Mandate of ARSO  
2.2.  The principle mandate of ARSO is to harmonise African Standards and conformity assessment 
procedures, based on International standards, and best International practices, in order to reduce 
Technical Barrier s to Trade in Africa, thus promote intra -African and international Trade. This entails 
the mandate to:  
a. Harmonise national and/or sub -regional standards as African Standards;  
b. Encourage and facilitate the adoption of international standards by member bodie s as the 
basis of Regulations and Conformity Assessment procedures.  
c. Initiate and co -ordinate the development of African Standards (ARS) with references to 
products which are of peculiar interest to Africa and where no international standards 
exist;  
d. Devel op tools for Good Conformity Assessment practices including Mutual Recognition 
Arrangements  
e. Promote Capacity building and awareness creation in standardisation activities;  
f. (Avail relevant information on standards, Technical Regulations, Conformity Assess ments  
g. Co-ordinate the views of its members at the ISO, IEC, OIML, Codex and other international 
organisations concerned with standardisation activities  
3  CURRENT ARSO ACTIVITIES AND COOPERATION IN FULFILLING ITS MANDATE AND 
PROMOTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO TBT AGREEMENT IN AFRICA  
3.1  Ongoing Implemented Activities: Standards Harmonisation.  
3.1.  Using the ARSO Standards Harmonisation Model (ASHAM) and based on International 
Internationally Accepted best practices within the ISO/IEC Guide, WTO TBT Annex 3, ARSO continues 
to harmonise African standards within the 13 ARSO Technical Harmonisation Committees (THCs) 
and within different Working Groups, with a total  number of published Standards, standing at 1,345.  
3.2.  In this regard, ARSO also Promotes the Adoption of International Standards by notification to 
the member states and through developed guidelines. In September 2019, ARSO - CENCENELE 
signed as the CENCEELEC  STANDARDS Adoption Agreement to facilitate the process in African 
countries. Currently, there is a notification for ARSO MEMBERS TO ADOPT 33 European Standards 
through notification and in accordance with ISO/IEC Guide 21:  
3.3.  Recently working with ANSI – USA, ARSO has approved the adoption of ISO Standards ISO 
30500:2018, ISO 24521:2016, ISO 24510:2007 ISO 24511:2007, as African Standards.  
3.4.  Under the ARSO strategic plan 2017 -2022, ARSO had targeted to harmonise 90 standards 
however, 120 standards have been ha rmonized surpassing the target of 90 standards.  
3.5.  Currently, UNECA (2019) has undertaken a Technical Study to identifying key Priority Products 
and Value Chains for Standards Harmonization in Africa: conducted by UNECA with 14 Sectors and 
80 Technical Commi ttees, identified, and further creation of 58 Working Groups for under ARSO 
THCs.  G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  3.6.  This is important to drive the process of the harmonization of standards and conformity 
assessment in Africa to match the 4,547 trade items identified in the tariff lines of  the AfCFTA in a 
timely manner, and which will, in turn be used to establish mutual recognition agreements to 
facilitating cross -border trade.  
3.2   Ongoing restricting of ARSO RECS cooperation for standards Harmonisation.  
3.7.  ARSO and the African RECs are curren tly collaborating to promote the harmonisation of Africa 
Standards and adoption of international Standards, through:  
a. The Review of the African Standards Harmonization Model (ASHAM) to reflect the joint 
ARSO -RECs standards harmonization activities and refl ection of the adoption of the African 
Standards at RECs levels;  
b. The Establishment of the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) to guide the process of joint ARSO -
RECs standards harmonization;  
c. The development of Joint New Work items generated by RECs and National co untry 
members and the analysis of the ARSO and RECS catalogues  
d. the Establishment of the Standards Management Committee (SMC) to be in charge of the 
management of procedures. A consultative meeting was held on 5  – 8 November 2019  
3.3  Promotion of Conformity A ssessment and Mutual Recognition Arrangements  
3.8.  ARSO is facilitating cooperation of the Africa countries in various initiatives for common 
Regulatory and Conformity Assessment procedures, for example, the ARSO CACO Working Group 
for Technical Regulations wh ich aims at using harmonised standards as the basis for Technical 
Regulations and Conformity Assessment in Africa to avoid unnecessary regulatory differences among 
African countries and promote Mutual Recognition Arrangements.  
3.9.  The Working Group, currently  with 10 members (Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia, 
Sierra Leonne, Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa and Uganda), promotes a better understanding of 
different regulatory systems to avoid unnecessary regulatory differences (through means such as 
achieving harmonized, equivalent or compatible solutions). The Working Group promotes the 
development of Mutual Recognition arrangements.  
3.10.   It is recalled that the WTO encourages Harmonization, the use of equivalence and mutual 
recognition in the bilateral free  trade agreements, such as the AfCFTA. The WTO TBT Agreement 
under Article 6.3 strongly encourages WTO Members to enter into negotiations with other Members 
for the mutual acceptance of conformity assessment results through Mutual Recognition 
Arrangements (MRAs) and facilitate the international concept and goal of "Certified Once, Accepted 
Everywhere ". This is made possible through a network of mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) 
among international accreditation bodies (WTO 1994)  
3.4  Development of Stakehol ders driven common African Quality Policy  
3.11.   Implementation of the Eco Mark Africa Certification Scheme: Arrangements (MRAs) and 
facilitate the international concept and goal of "Certified Once, Accepted Everywhere ". This is made 
possible through a network o f mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) among international 
accreditation bodies (WTO 1994)  
3.12.   Under the auspices of PAQI, and the Support of the AFREXIMBANK and the African Union, and 
with the participation of UNIDO Experts, the African Standardisation sta keholders are currently 
holding consultative meetings in all African regions (RECs) on the development of the African Quality 
Policy, as per the African Union Summit decisions in the Abuja Treaty of 1991, which called for a 
Common Standardisation Policy fo r Africa. Two regional workshops were held, respectively, in 
Nairobi Kenya in June 2019 for the EAC, COMESA, SADC, AMU regions, and in Lagos in July 2019 
for ECOWAS, ECCAS, CENSENSAD regions.  G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  3.13.   The African Quality Policy is expected to underpin the Developm ent and Strengthening the 
Quality Infrastructure in Africa in a more reasonable manner. A validation Workshop has been 
scheduled for 13 th February 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where all Stakeholders are expected to 
attend.  
3.14.   ARSO facilitated the implementa tion of the Eco Mark Africa Certification Scheme (African 
Ecolabelling Mechanism), with the launch on 8th May 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya and with certification 
of the first 7 certified Companies (5 in Kenya, One in Rwanda and 1 in Ghana.  
3.15.   The Eco Mark is regis tered also with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) 
and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and being benchmarked with other 
recognised Eco Labels like Fair Trade Africa, CMS. Some key achievements, include:  
a. Capacity Bu ilding for producers/service providers, auditors, consultants and labs on six 
ARSO sustainability standards (agriculture, fisheries, Aquaculture (Tilapia & Catfish), 
forestry and tourism sectors.) REF. ARS/AES 01: Agriculture — Sustainability and Eco -
labelling — Requirements ARS/AES 02: Fisheries — Sustainability and Eco -labelling — 
Requirements ARS/AES 03: Forestry — Sustainability and Eco -labelling — Requirements, 
ARS/AES 04: Tourism — Sustainability and Eco -labelling — Requirements. This process 
has been completed in ten countries (Cameroun, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, 
Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).  
b. There is ongoing training and offering of license agreement, already, to Seven (7) Country 
Certification bodies (CBs) to certify the ARSO African ecolabelling standards (AES): (1) 
African Organization for Certification (AOC, private, SA), (2) Agence des Normes et de la 
Qualité (ANOR), (3) Association sénégalaise de Normalisation (ASN), (4) Kenya Bureau of 
Standards (KEBS), (5) Mauri tius Standards Bureau (MSB), (6 ) Standards Association of 
Zimbabwe (SAZ) and (7) Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), which have signed 
the). Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) and Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) a re in the process of reviewing and signing the 
agreement. Of these certification bodies, KEBS and SAZ are already active in certification .  
3.5  Standardisation Capacity Building, Training and sensitization Workshops  
3.16.   Various Standardisation Capacity Building, Workshops, Training activities, and the African Day 
of Standardisation Forum, in cooperation with ARSO Partners, targeting member States Experts have 
been going on to sensitize the Africa citizens, producers and t raders on the benefits of 
standardisation and challenges of the TBTs in the continent. The following are highlighted:  
a. The African Day of Standardisation and Made in Africa Expo events, the last of which was 
held on 19 June 2019, in Nairobi Kenya, under th e theme, "the Role of Quality 
Infrastructure in Free Trade Area, in reference to the AfCFTA".  
i. An all African Day of Standardisation has been scheduled for 25 – 27 March 2020 in 
Accra, Ghana.  
b. The ARSO Essay Competition, with the on -going 2019 -2020 being ca rried out under the 
theme: "The role of Standardisation in resolving and addressing the socio -economic issues 
for the Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons and creating durable 
Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa" '  
c. The ARSO Newsletter Quarterly Series (2019, 2020) published under different themes 
based on the African Trade and Integration Agenda and the role of Standardisation and 
Conformity Assessment.  
3.6   Notifications and Information Sharing activities and platforms  
3.17.   There has been increased collaboration and cooperation among ARSO members in sharing the 
Trade and Standardisation information through the ARSO DISNET and ITC platform, including the 
African Trade Web Portal, ARSO Online Library on Standards and Trade Req uirements, where new G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  standards, Technical Regulations and the Trade - related TBT information are shared on various 
Traded African products.  
3.7  Yearly ARSO Week for Awareness Creation on the challenges of TBTs  
3.18.   The ARSO Week that coincides with its General Asse mbly events are held every year in June. 
The following are highlighted :  
a. 25th ARSO General Assembly held in Nairobi, Kenya on 17 th – 21st June 2019, and Hosted 
by the Government of the Republic of Kenya, under the theme the Role of Quality 
Infrastructure i n Free Trade Area, in reference to the AfCFTA. Representatives from 
different International Organisations ( AFNOR, BSI, COTECNA, CEN -CENELEC, DNVGL, 
GSO, IEC, Intertek, IEEE, ISO, ITU, PTB -Germany, QCI UL, SIS), participated.  
b. 26th ARSO General Assembly is scheduled for 22nd – 26th June 2020 in Kampala Uganda, 
hosted by the Government of the Republic of Uganda.  
4  ON-GOING COOPERATIO N 
a. AAS – Development and implementation of the ARS 1651: 2018 - Good Financial Grant 
Practice, Requirements, officially launched o n 12 th December 2018 in Pretoria South Africa, 
and with on -going initiatives to develop its Conformity Assessment Scheme.  
b. AfDB - Training and Certification of African Enterprises in Implementing Standards.  
c. Afreximbank – Harmonisation of African Standards  Regulatory Framework for Africa in the 
automotive industry and development of the African Quality Policy (AQP).  
d. ANSI – USA – is supporting the Harmonisation and adoption of the ISO Standards, ISO 
30500:2018 - Non-sewered sanitation/next - generation toile ts and the ISO 24521:2016, 
together with ISO 24510:2007 ISO 24511:2007, relating to Safer drinking water and 
wastewater services, as African Standards, under the ARSO ARSO/THC 09 -3 Technical 
Working Group on Drinking Water Supply and Wastewater Systems wit h the involvement 
of about 108 Experts, from 32 African countries ( Algeria, Botswana, Benin, Burkina Faso, 
Cameroun, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, 
Liberia, Libya , Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,  Rwanda, Senegal, South 
Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda , Zambia, Zanzibar, 
and Zimbabwe ) - Meetings held in May (Kenya) and July (Tanzania) 2019.  
e. ARSO -SIS - cooperation, currently under discussion, focusing on strengthen ing Quality 
Infrastructure in Africa, including Capacity building and Awareness creation among 
Stakeholders and MSMES.  
f. ASTM International - Cooperation in Standards harmonisation and Capacity Building and 
Training.  
g. CEN-CENELEC – focusing on the Standards  harmonisation and adoption for the 
implementation of the AfCFTA Single Market. A Copyright Declaration Agreement was 
signed at the ISO GA in September 2019, Cape Town South Africa.  
h. Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) – Standardisa tion and 
Conformity Assessment for the Halal Economy in Africa. ARSO Council Delegates are set 
to participate in the Dubai Halal Expo of 2020 on 16 th – 20th February 2020 to benchmark 
on the regulatory frameworks for the Halal Economy, which already has ga ined recognition 
in the international trading systems.  
i. IEEE – Focusing on the initiative on an African Standardization Strategy for the 4th 
Industrial Revolution, with on -going activity being on the development of a strategy and 
roadmap, plus potential pi lots and related capacity building activities.  
j. ISO – Harmonisation and adoption of International standards  in Africa  G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  k. ITC - Cooperation in facilitating an Interactive online platform for the African Quality 
Infrastructure Experts/Stakeholders.  
l. ITU – Cooperation in the implementation of on Standardisation and digital platforms. 
Signed Agreement of Cooperation in June 2019  
m. KATS, Korea – Standards and Conformity Assessment Harmonisation and Capacity 
Building – KATS sponsored 33 African Experts to a Standard isation and Conformity 
Assessment Capacity Building Forums held on 23rd – 28th August 2019 in Seoul Korea, 
with Experts from 33 ARSO members participating (Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, 
New State of Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, 
Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, the Kingdom of 
Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Zanzibar).  
n. NEPAD – Cooperation in Conformity Assessment and harmonization of standards for 
fisheries and aquaculture products and development of standards -based value addition 
manuals, and a lso for the EMA certification audits.  
o. Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG) – Development of the 
traditional medicine value chain,  
p. SAC, China - Cooperation in standardisation activities, including the Road and Belt, 
project .  
q. TradeCom II – Focusing on Two projects:  
i. P043: - for export competitiveness of women -led PMES and standards promotion 
in cosmetology sector in AFRICA in 14 ARSO member States, namely: Botswana, 
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Se negal, South 
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in collaboration with the Global 
Shea Alliance (GSA).  
ii. P047: For strengthening of the African -Caribbean -Pacific (ACP) Region Quality 
Infrastructure - strengthen regional trade -related quality infr astructure through 
intra-ACP Quality bodies (CROSQ, ARSO and PIFS) partnerships. Events. ACP 
Quality bodies (CROSQ, ARSO and PIFS) regional workshop held on 2 – 
6 September 2019 in Fiji, and ARSO -CRSQ Consultative and benchmarking 
meeting 29  October – 1 November 2019. 
5  COOPERATION WITH THE WTO  
5.1.  ARSO appreciates the mutual cooperation with the WTO, which currently is promoting the 
creation of awareness in Africa about the challenges of the TBTs and the need for strengthening 
Quality Infrastructure in Africa. For the year 2019, on 29 -31 January 2019, the WTO, organised the 
WTO Regional Workshop on the TBT Agreement for English -speaking African Countries, held in 
Dar-es-Salaam , Tanzania, where the then ARSO President, Dr. Eve Gadzikwa and the ARSO 
Secretary Gen eral, Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana joined other TBT Experts and Policy Makers. The 
ARSO Officials delivered ARSO contributions, through a short presentation on ARSO's work to 
promote pan -African harmonization of national technical regulations, standards and Co nformity 
Assessment, during the session on "International Standards":  
5.2.  The ARSO officials also joined in the discussions on the Session on "Conformity Assessment 
and Quality Infrastructure" organized as a panel debate, giving comments and perspectives on h ow 
African regulators can draw upon the Quality Infrastructure to promote trade and facilitate 
approaches to conformity assessment. ARSO also participated in the  WTO Regional Workshop on the 
TBT Agreement for French -speaking Africa on 1 - October 2019, in C ote D 'Ivoire.  G/TBT/GEN/289  
 
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  6  CONCLUSION  
6.1.  Building on the momentum of the newly ratified African Continental Free Trade Area, and going 
forward, ARSO 's Role and participation at the WTO TBT Committee, with mutual cooperation with 
standardisation Stakeholders, including t he WTO on tackling the challenges of the TBTs in Africa, 
will be crucial, in light of the operations of the AfCFTA Agreement Annex 6 on TBT and Annex 7 on 
SPS, and in the context of article 3 of the Annex 6 (TBT), where State parties have reiterated their 
TBT obligations and rights under the WTO TBT Agreement.  
6.2.  ARSO is greatly aware that, due to their Mandate and Influence on the establishment of the 
Legal and Institutional Framework for Regulatory Compliance (Quality Infrastructure), Quality 
Governance Ins titutions in Africa, like ARSO and the National Bureau of Standards, have a decisive 
influence on the question "to what degree does Technical Barriers to Trade present a stepping stone 
or rather a stumbling block towards the implementation of a African Con tinental Free Trade Area ?.  
6.3.  By appointing Prof. Alex Dodoo, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) Director - General as the 
ARSO Ambassador to the AfCFTA Secretariat, hosted in Accra, Ghana by the Government of the 
Republic of Ghana, ARSO is already playing a  strategic role and positioning itself to prepare African 
countries to be able to unpack Opportunities and Threats in trade, under the African Single market 
and the AfCFTA deal, highlighting the Strategic Position of ARSO in the Pan African Quality 
Infrast ructure (AFRAC, AFRIMETS, AFSEC and ARSO) Forum and its Observer membership in the 
WTO TBT Committee, since November 2015, with respect to the implementation of the WTO TBT 
Agreement.  
6.4.  ARSO is open to collaborations with WTO within the context of article 1 1 of the WTO Agreement 
on Technical Assistance to the developing countries in upgrading and strengthening their Quality 
Infrastructure.  
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