G/TBT/GEN/219  
 
22 May 2017  
(17-2758) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 
ACTIVITIES OF THE AFRICAN ORGANISATION  FOR STANDARDISATION (ARSO ) 
RELATED TO THE WORK OF THE WTO TBT COMMI TTEE  
STATEMENT BY ARSO  
This document contains information provided by ARSO  at the TBT Committee meeting of   
29-30 March 2017  under Agenda Item 4 (Tec hnical Cooperation Activities)  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  ARSO is an intergovernmental Organisation established 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. ARSO attained its observer membership in the 
WTO TBT Committee in November 2015.  
1.2.  The principal mandate of ARSO is to harmonise African Standards and conformity assessment 
procedures in order to reduce Technical Barriers t o Trade to enhance intra -African and 
international Trade as well as industrialization and Integration in Africa. For this ARSO:  
a. Harmonises national and/or sub -regional standards as African Standards and issues 
necessary recommendations to member bodies for  this purpose;  
b. Initiates and co -ordinates the development of African Standards (ARS) with reference to 
products which are of peculiar interest to Africa;  
c. Encourages and facilitates adoption of international standards by member bodies;  
d. Promotes and facilit ate exchange of experts, information and co -operation in training of 
personnel in standardisation activities;  
e. Coordinates the views of its members at the ISO, IEC, OIML, Codex and other 
international organisations concerned with standardisation activities.  
1.3.  Currently ARSO has 36 member States (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, 
Guinea -Bissau, Guine a, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namib ia, Niger, 
Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, 
Tanzania, Togo, Tunis ia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe .  
1.4.  The ARSO Standardisation Agenda is driven by AU Decisions on specific areas of interest, the 
latest which lays greater importance on Quality Infrastructure in Africa and establishment of the 
Continental Free Trade Area y 2017, are the decisions of the 9th Ordinary Session of the AU 
Conference of Ministers of Trade of 1–5 December 2014, Addis Abab a, Ethiopia, that directed that :  
 All AU Member States that are currently not Members of ARSO should endeavour to attain 
membership by the year 2017;  G/TBT/GEN/219  
 
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   ARSO and other Pan African Standards organisations to refer to the year 2017 as African 
year of Quality In frastructure;  
 The AUC and ARSO should increase awareness and mobilize all stakeholders on the role of 
Quality Infrastructure;  
 The AUC and Quality Infrastructure Institutions should assess the status of Quality 
Infrastructure in Africa; and develop a Stra tegic Plan on Quality Infrastructure in Africa.  
 The AUC and ARSO to develop a work plan on Quality Infrastructure to be submitted t o the 
Senior Officials meeting.  
1.5.  Understandably, in order to shape the CFTA as a comprehensive legal framework for the 21st 
Century challenges and for the CFTA to fulfil its promise in helping Africa to industrialise and boost 
intra-African trade, understanding the link between standards, technical regulations, conformity 
assessment and trade remains crucial in the design of bro ader development programs that will 
create new industrialisation and trading opportunities and enhance the Trade within the regional 
value chains, countries and regions in Africa and facilitate Access to global value chains.  
1.6.  In retrospect, the AU and UNEC A under the document on boosting intra -African trade and the 
establishment of a CFTA have undertaken to highlight the responsibilities of the African countries 
and RECs in the CFTA Programme to Boost the Intra -African Trade:  
"The CFTA members will need to  appreciate and recognise the importance of 
standards, metrology, conformity assessment and accreditation…CFTA members will 
need to harmonise their practices in this area to achieve mutual product 
recognition…Cooperation with national, regional and interna tional standards bodies 
will need to be promoted. Members will thus need to develop and adopt a policy 
framework consistent with the provisions of the relevant WTO agreement (AU 2012). " 
1.7.  In response, ARSO has been engaged, under its 2012 -2017 Strategic Fram ework, in the 
following activities:  
2  STANDARDS HARMONISAT ION THROUGH THE ARSO  TECHNICAL HARMONISATION 
COMMITTEES (THCS)  
2.1.  During this period, the following ARSO THCs held their Harmonisation meetings based on the 
WTO TBT Agreement guidelines, Annex 3 on Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption 
and Application of Standards:  
 ARSO THC 07 – Textile and Leather, 8 –10 March 2017, Nairobi, Kenya  
 ARSO THC 05 – Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 28 –31 March, Nairobi, Kenya  
 ARSO -THC 02 – Agriculture and Food  Products, 12 –14 April 2017, Kampala, Uganda  
 ARSO -THC 02 – Agriculture and Food Products, 25 –28 April 2017, Nairobi, Kenya  
 ARSO/THC 03 - Building and Civil Engineering, 7 –9 June 2017, Moka, Mauritius.  
2.2.  Partners - African Development Bank, PTB -Germany, UNECA . Experts are drawn from the 
Public and Privates Sectors, Academia and NSBs form all African Countries.  
2.3.  ARSO is currently discussing with CEN -CENELEC (Europe) on how to ensure that 
Standardisation enhances the operations of the CFTA in similarities with th e EU New 
Standardisation Approach of 1985.  G/TBT/GEN/21 9 
 
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  3  CONFORMITY ASSESSMEN T 
3.1.  Strengthening of the ARSO Conformity Assessment Programme (ARSO CACO) that is focusing 
on harmonisation of the Conformity Assessment Procedures and encouraging Mutual Recognition 
Arrangement  Agreements among African countries.  
 First launching meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2016, the second 
meeting of the ARSO CACO Experts was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 20 –22 February 2017 
to develop relevant documentations.  
 Participating Coun tries - Botswana, C ôte d'Ivoire, DR. Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, 
Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, 
South Africa, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.  
4  AWARENESS CREATION O N QUALI TY INFRASTRUCTURE  
4.1.  ARSO organised an Awareness Creation on Quality Infrastructure and the Launching of the 
celebrations of the 2017 as Africa 's Year of Quality Infrastructure.  
 On 1-4 March 2017 at the Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe,  ARSO held the 
2nd ARSO President Forum and the Made in Africa Conference and Expo 2017 under the 
theme: Made in Africa as A Pillar for African Economic Integration, Industrialisation and 
Transformation Agenda, in an event attended by Sixteen (16) African countr ies (Benin, 
Botswana, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, 
South Sudan, Swaziland, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Observer Missions (ACP -EU-TBT 
Programme, UNECA, RECs (ECOWAS) and Zimbabwe Companies.  
 Discussions a ddressed the role non -tariff measures (TBT/SPS) and related capacity 
constraints play in promoting Made in African Products and trade. The meeting agreed that 
putting in place measures to strengthen the capacities, competitiveness and innovative 
capabiliti es of domestic enterprises should be an integral part of the African development 
policy and increased emphasis on compliance to standards, technical regulations and 
strengthening quality infrastructure is one part of the overall context of reform Agenda.  
Further details are available  here  
5  INFORMATION DISSEMIN ATION  
5.1.  Under the ARSO Documentation and Information Networks (ARSO DISNET) ARSO together 
with the ACP -EU-TBT Programme continues to develop the Africa Trade Web Portal as a tool for 
information dissemination on Trade and TBT/SPS requirements of various African Products to 
facilitate Trade.  
5.2.  On 23 November 2016 in Douala, Cameroon, ARSO jointly with the ACP -EU-TBT Programme 
organised a workshop for ARSO  DISNET Experts from 25 Countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Cote 
D'Ivoire, DR. Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, 
Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, 
Tanza nia and Zambia) to facilitate this process.  
6  PAN AFRICAN QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE (PAQI ) MEETING IN KIGALI,  RWANDA ON 
6-8 FEBRUARY 2017 FOCU SSING ON THE TBT CHA PTER OF THE CONTINE NTAL FREE 
TRADE AREA NEGOTIATI ONS 
6.1.  ARSO and other Pan African Quality Infrastruct ure ( PAQI) institutions (AFRIMETS, AFRAC, 
AFSEC) held a consultative meeting in the side -lines of the African Union/CFTA Technical Working 
Group on the Technical Barriers to Trade (TWG/TBT/SPS) held from 9 -10 February 2 017 in Kigali 
Rwanda to continue strategizing for a strong, sustainable and integrated approach to the 
continent 's quality infrastructure, encompassing metrology, standards, accreditation and quality 
assurance and as a major player in the implementation of  the CFTA . 
6.2.  ARSO also held a sideline bilater al meeting at the same time, in Kigali Rwanda, with  the 
British Standards Institut e (BSI) Officials focusing on ARSO - BSI cooperation on BSI standards G/TBT/GEN/219  
 
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  development priorities and how they link to domestic, regiona l and international priorities; The 
economic and societal benefits of standards; How to increase use of standards; How African NSBs 
are integrating the ISO strategic plans into their NSB strategies; and National and regional 
engagement.  
7  BILATERAL AGREEMENT S 
7.1  Bilateral Agreements with SMIIC and CROSQ  
7.1.  On 28 November, ARSO Signed an MoU with the Standards and Metrology Institute for 
Islamic Countries (SMIIC). SMIIC is an affiliated institution of the Organisation of Islamic 
Cooperation (OIC) and a mechanism for  harmonisation of standards and eliminating technical 
barriers to trade among the OIC Member States. This will help in addressing TBT issues among the 
African and OIC member States and boost International trade.  
7.2.  On 19  January 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya during the ACP -EU-TBT Programme Workshop "TBT 
GOOD PRACTICES " held at the Boma Hotel in Nairobi, ARSO signed and MoU with CROSQ - the 
CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality Headquartered in Barbados. CROSQ is 
the Caribbean regional centre for pro moting efficiency and competitive production in goods and 
services within its 15 member countries, through the process of Standardisation and the 
verification of quality. This will help in addressing TBT issues in the ACP regions.  
7.2  ARSO and Regional Economi c Communities (RECs) Cooperation  
7.3.  ARSO -RECs cooperation is influenced by the fact that the need to address the Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT/SPS issues) has become more critical as African leaders are fast -tracking 
and deepening regional and continental Integration as depicted by the COMESA, EAC and SADC 
Tripartite agreement and the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by 2017, as 
Flagship projects Agenda 2063.  
7.4.  ARSO had on 25 -26 April 2016 signed an Agreement on Guidelines for the impl ementation of 
MoUs with the RECS (COMESA, EAC, ECOWAS, SADC) to facilitate quality infrastructure as a 
means of attaining a coherent and effective continental harmonization of standards and conformity 
assessment.  
7.3  ARSO and ECOWAS  
7.5.  ARSO and ECOWAS through th e Swedish International Cooperation (Sida) and Swedish 
Standards Institute (SIS) are jointly implementing a project "Capacity building in international 
standards setting with ECOWAS region as a case study"; the project was initiated (2014) to 
facilitate th e involvement of ECOWAS member states in influencing international standards 
processes and applying international standards, emphasizing on ECOWAS and Africa priorities.  
7.6.  In May 2016, in Lomé Togo, ARSO Secretary General addressed the ECOWAS Ministers of 
Trade and Industry and Technocrats on the project. An inception meeting was held on 13 -15 June 
2016, a second meeting was held on 15 -17 February in Paris France, hosted by AFNOR. The third 
meeting is on 20 -22 March 2017 in Cape Verde.  
7.4  ARSO -COMESA  
7.7.  ARSO and C OMESA are engaging in a "COMESA Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) to enhance 
Regional Integration and Trade project being supported by the Trade ComII -ACP Trade Capacity 
Building Programme/COLEACP -Le Comité de Liaison Europe -Afrique -Caraîbes -Pacifique, and 
targeting  19 countries within COMESA.  
7.8.  On 9–10 March 2017, ARSO held a meeting with COMESA and Trade ComII -ACP Officials at 
ARSO Central Secretariat in Nairobi to discuss the implementation of Project.  
7.9.  Under the COMESA, EAC and SADC Tripartite agreement, An nex 10, ARSO has a mandate of 
harmonising the Tripartite Standards which would be recognised as African standards to serve the 
purposes of trade within the CFTA.  G/TBT/GEN/21 9 
 
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  7.5  ARSO -SADC  
7.10.   On 13-17 March 2017,  ARSO participated in the 32nd Annual Meetings of SADC Technical  
Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structures, Ezulwinin, Swaziland, a s part of strategies to fulfil 
the Tripartite Agreement.  
7.6  ARSO -EAC 
7.11.   On 27  February –3 March 2017, ARSO participated in the Regional Meeting for Consideration 
of Public Review Feedback on the Draft EAC Staple Foods Standards in Kigali, Rwanda.  
7.12.   The ARSO 2017 -2022 is currently being reviewed with strategies focusing on ARSO 
Programmes meant to:  
a. Facilitate the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area and Africa 's 
industrialisation an d Integration  
b. Strengthen Quality Infrastructure in Africa through the PAQI Forum and cooperation with 
African Union, UNECA, RECs and development Partners.  
c. Increased Harmonisation and implementation of African Standards and relevant 
international standards.   
d. Strengthen the Conformity Assessment to serve the interest of African industries, 
farmers, producers and consumers.  
e. Promote greater implementation of the WTO TBT Committee Agreement in Africa to 
respond to the challenges of global trade.  
8  CONCLUSION  
8.1.  Boost ing intra -African trade and deepening regional market integration constitute a 
necessary response to the challenges facing Africa in the multilateral trading system and the global 
economy. The boosting of intra -African trade and the deepening of Africa 's market integration, by 
fostering competition among African countries, will assist in enhancing their capacity and prepare 
them to compete more effectively on the global market. The issues of Technical Barriers to trade 
as highlighted under the WTO TBT Agree ment remains crucial and ARSO is open to more Technical 
Cooperation, based on article 11 of the WTO TBT Agreement to address the TBT issues in Africa 
and within the ACP region.  For further Information please contact:  
ARSO Secretary General  
African Organis ation for Standardisation  
(ARSO), ARSO Central Secretariat  
3rd Floor, International House  
Mama Ngina Street.  
P. O. Box 57363 -00200  
Nairobi, Kenya   
Tel. +254 -20-2224561/3311641/ 3311608  
Email: arso@arso -oran.org , info@arso -oran.org , nhermo@gmail.com  
Website: www.arso -oran.org  
 
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