G/SPS/GEN/1952  
 
27 September  2021 
(21-7187) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
ECOWAS IMPLEMENTED SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY ACTIVITIES  
DURING THE PERIOD OF JULY  - OCTOBER  2021 
COMMUNICATION FROM ECOWAS -USAID SENIOR SANITARY  
AND PHYTOSANITARY ( SPS) STANDARDS ADVISOR  
The following communication, received on  24 September  2021, is being circulated at the request of  
the Economic Community of West African States  (ECOWAS).  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
The USAID/West Africa Regional Mission, USDA, Food and Agriculture Organization Subregional 
Office for West Africa  (FAOSFW ) and Food and Agriculture Organization Resilience Office for 
West Africa and the Sahel ( FAOREOWA ) work to support the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS) to advance their 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 good s and people throughout the region. Since 2017, SPS -related actions have been 
implemented.  
In view of improving and strengthening SPS activities in the ECOWAS region , the following 
activities were implemented during the period of July - October  2021. It is  to note that since 
March  2020, the COVID -19 pandemic that is still with us, has impacted the smooth implementation 
of SPS -related activities at national and regional levels. As such, most planned SPS -related activities 
were postponed till further notice. However, certain technical and capacity building activities were 
implemented  at national and regional levels , following the COVID -19 protocols . 
2  PLANT HEALTH AND PLANT PROTECTION  
2.1  Planning the continuation of training workshop on the "Use of the Harmonized 
Phytosanitary Inspection and Decision -Making Guide"  
Following several coordination meetings, the plan has now been approved for the continuation 
of the training workshop on "The Use of the Harmonized Phytosanitary Inspection and 
Decision -Making Guide" . This  is an effort of USDA -FAS dedicated to support West Africa NPPOs  
Taskforce to disseminate the harmonized Guide in order to promote best practices in the conduct of 
plant quarantine operations in the sub -region.  
It is important to recall the pro gram aims:  
− to train in the pilot countries , including Benin and Nigeria , plant quarantine inspectors on a 
better understanding for further use of the Guide;  
− to undertake simulation exercises with practical demonstrations of phytosanitary inspection 
includi ng pest detection and identification at the laboratory;  
− to test the applicability of the Guide.  
Training has been  conducted in Cabo Verde on 6-8 September 2021 , and will also take place 
on 5-7 October 2021 . Thirty plant inspectors were trained nationwide. This initiative is in line with G/SPS/GEN/1952  
 
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  ECOWAS priorities and the implementation of the SPS framework to help West African countries' 
plant quarantine systems meet international standards and to promote safe trade.  
2.2  Capacity building of ECOWAS in the prevention, su rveillance and control of the desert 
locust , as well as the analysis of its impact on food and nutrition security in the Sahel in 
the context of COVID -19 
Regional training on the use of drones in desert locust monitoring and control was implemented 
in June  2021, in Mauritania a s part of the implementation of the comprehensive regional programme 
on prevention, surveillance and control of the desert locust , as well as the analysis of its impact on 
food and nutrition security in the Sahel in the context of COVID -19 supported by FAO through a 
technical cooperation programme TCP/SFW/3801 . In addition, the regional training was part of the 
follow -up actions to t he requests of countries, and in line with a "no -regrets" and pre -emptive 
approach to anticipate the likely crisis , and also in view of the ongoing implementation of 
preparedness, anticipatory and early actions  with the use of technology to solve biologica l 
agricultural problem s. Fifteen focal point s of the nine national desert locust committee s of the 
frontline and invasi on countries , including Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, 
Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, and regional institution s, includi ng ECOWAS were trained.  
Further, capacity building of competent authorities at the national level on the best practices 
for the anticipation and c ontrol of de sert locust invasion in West Africa and the Sahel sub -region was 
also implemented in invasion  countries, including Cameroon (July 2021), the Gambia (August 2021) 
with 21 and 25 plant protection officers trained, respectively.  
The overall objectives of these training and capacity building  activities  were:  
− curb the spread of desert locust: provide techn ical equipment and training (survey 
techniques, spraying techniques, health and environmental monitoring, locust information 
management and analysis, including the training on the use of new data collection tools 
(eLocust3g, eLocust3m and eLocust3w) ; 
− national coordination and preparedness: establish/revitalize national desert locust unit s 
where necessary and provide training (community sensitization and awareness raising) ; 
− engage  in discussion for the development of a national contingency and response plan.  
In both Cameroon and the Gambia, there were also advocacy meeting s with the Ministry of 
Agriculture . As a result , both Ministers, on behalf of their countr ies, reiterated their willingness to 
become  full member s of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region 
(CLCPRO ). They will be invited  as observer s to participate in the forthcoming statutory meeting of 
CLCPRO . 
At the moment, the situation of the desert locust invasion in West Africa and the Sahel remains 
calm. Even if the desert locust invasion does not materialize, this initiative  has considerably 
scaled -up the preparedness and control capacities of local actors, while at the same time provided 
the opportunity to pre -position required equipment , as well as introduce innovative equipment and 
best practices in this technical field.  
2.3  Participation in the virtual consultative meeting for the validation  of the continental 
plant health strategy for Africa, 16 September  2021  
We participated in the virtual consultati ve meeting for the validation  of the continental plant 
health strategy for Africa held on 16 September 2021. The meeting was attended by more than 
46 participants from regional economic communities (RECs), African Union Commission  (AUC) 
technical institutions, private sector, academia, FAO, WHO, WTO, STDF, USDA, USAID,  the 
European  Union , other donors  and technical partners. There were fruitful discussions during the 
plenary , and these yielded comprehensive and consensual outcomes that the hired co nsultant is 
finalizing  in the plant health strategy for Africa.  G/SPS/GEN/1952  
 
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  3  FOOD SAFETY  
3.1  ECOWAS Regional meeting on data generation for Codex work , 27 to 29 October 2021, 
Cotonou, Benin  
Codex standards must be based on sound science. Within the Codex work process, Scientific 
Advisory Bodies have been established by FAO and WHO to provide scientific advice to Codex 
Committee s during the elaboration of Codex standards. These scientific bodies include:  
− Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and conta minants (JECFA) ; 
− The Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) ; 
− The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) ; 
− The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Nutrition (JEMNU) . 
In the process of providing scientific advice to C odex Committees and members, the scientific 
bodies conduct risk assessment using occurrence, consumption and toxicological data from 
Codex  members. Inclusion of data reflecting geographical coverage of Codex membership makes 
Codex standards representative,  inclusive and facilitate domestication of the standards at national 
level.  
In the past, there ha ve been concerns that certain Codex standards had been developed 
without data from Africa , and that this could potentially have negative trade implications for  food 
commodities of African origin. Although data from Africa are sometimes available and have been 
used in the Codex risk assessment and standard setting process, there ha ve also been instances 
where data from African countries have been rejected due to poor data quality. In most cases 
however, Africa has not been able to submit relevant data to support Codex standard development 
even for some priority commodities for the region. Moreover, several African countries do not have 
national monitoring or foodb orne disease surveillance programmes on priority food safety hazards 
and risks, hence limiting their ability to: anticipate and predict foodborne outbreaks, identify areas 
of weakness in the food chain and determine the effectiveness of hazard control or m itigation 
measures.  
Addressing this data gap will require strengthening surveillance and testing capabilities to 
produce reliable results, leveraging comparative advantages of laboratories in the region for capacity 
building and data generation, anticipato ry, mid and long -term planning, coordination of laboratories 
at national and regional levels through networking and seamless information flow on Codex data 
needs and their integration into national food testing activities and research agenda. These may als o 
feed into the SPS index for inclusion in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development 
Programme ( CAADP ) Biennial Review report.  
With the support of AU -IBAR, ECOWAS is convening a dialogue and networking meeting for 
food safety laboratories in ECOWAS member States to explore pathways for addressing these 
challenges. This regional meeting will  be held from 27 to 29 October 2021 in Cotonou, Benin.  
The meeting objectives are to:  
− Promote networking, peer learning and information sharing between food safet y laboratories 
in the ECOWAS region for greater cooperation ; 
− Identify Codex work of priority for the region, data needs and approaches for data 
provisions ; 
− Identify and discuss procedural and governance issues required for establishing the ECOWAS 
Regional Food Safety Laboratories Network and agree on a roadmap of actions.  
Participants are Codex Contact Point Officers from ECOWAS member States, coordinators in 
the National Food Safety Laboratory Network, experts serving on AU -IBAR Expert Meeting on 
Contamina nts, Pesticide Residues, Residues of Veterinary Drugs, as well as r epresentatives from 
selected national agricultural research institutes and academia.  G/SPS/GEN/1952  
 
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  3.2  Participation in the virtual consultative meeting for the validation  of the continental 
food safety strategy for Africa, 17 September  2021  
We participated in the virtual consultative meeting for the validation  of the continental food 
safety strategy for Africa held on 17 September  2021. The meeting was attended by over 
91 partici pants from  countries,  RECs, AUC technical institutions, private sector, academia, FAO, 
WHO, WTO, STDF, USDA, USAID, the European  Union , other donors and technical partners. 
There  were fruitful discussions during the plenary and these yielded comprehensive outcomes that 
the hired consultant is compiling to finalize the food safety strategy for Africa.  
4  GENERAL CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD  
The ECOWAS Commission take s this opportunity to thank all partners for their continuing 
support in advancing SPS -related iss ues in the ECOWAS and Sahel sub -region , and to call for more 
collaboration, and support for future implementation, especially in the new era of and post 
COVID -19. 
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