G/SPS/GEN/1566  
 
3 July 2017 
(17-3581) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS ACTIVITIES OF  THE AFRICAN UNION CO MMISSION  
The following communication, received on 3 July 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the African Union Commission  (AUC) . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The African Union Commission Department of Rura l Economy and Agriculture is responsible 
for co ordinating continent -wide initiatives in agriculture, fisheries, food and nutrition security, 
strengthening the resilience of African food production systems, facilitating ha rmonisation of 
agricultural and knowledge support systems policies, mobilizing resources to address 
implementation of priority issues in the continent and advocacy for implementation of priority 
programmes in Africa.  
1.2.  The Commission, the European Union (EU) and the Estonian government as current chair of 
the European Union organized the 2nd AU-EU Agriculture Ministers Conference under the theme 
"Making Sustainable Agriculture a future for the youth in Africa"  on 2 July 2017. The event was 
focused on four the mes namely and r oundtable dialogues were channelled around four main 
thematic areas namely: (i) responsible private sector investments and access to markets in agri -
food sector in Africa, with ke y deliverables on SPS and devel opment of Geographic Indicatio ns as a 
tool for rural development in Africa;  (ii) research and innovation and the role of digitization in 
agriculture; ( iii) sustainable agriculture wa ter management in a climate resilient environment; 
(iv) climate Smart Agriculture and reducing food loss es and waste ; and (v) AU -IBAR organized a 
special session  on animal health focusing on P estes des Petit Ruminants (PPR) . The Ministerial 
Conference was preceded by an Agribusiness Investment Forum on 1 July 2017 and followed by 
the FAO Conference from 3 -8 July 2017 at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, AU-EU Minister 's 
conference.  
1.3.  The Commission and the government of Turkey  organized its inaugural Africa -Turkey 
Ministers of Agriculture meeting and Agribusiness Forum from 27 -28 April 2017. The Confere nce 
discussed:  (i) technology development and tra nsfer in irrigation and agricul tural mechanization, 
storage and post -harvest loss prevention ; (ii) agricultural inputs sector development such as seed 
production and marketing as well as fertilizer production and  distribution ; (iii) knowledge sharing 
and transfer in different areas such as climate smart agriculture, land registration and titl ing as 
well as youth employment; (iv) agricultural value chain development for different priority crops 
such as cocoa, cotton, maize, rice, cassava, etc. for local consumption and export ; (v) livestock 
production and trade including fisheries ; (vi) agribusiness development incl uding supporting small 
and medium enterprises and agro -industry development;  and (vii) soil manag ement. As part of the 
conference, the government of Turkey represented by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and 
Livestock signed bilateral agreements with six African countries to cooperate and boost agriculture 
in their respective countries. Over a period  of two days, business people and entities from Africa 
were matched to their counterparts from Turkey on a one -to-one basis. The business people came 
from all segments of the agricultural value chain both in Africa and Turkey. Good business deals 
were stru ck during these meetings.  
1.4.  The 13th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Partnership Platform 
(CAADP -PP) meeting was held in Uganda June 2017. The CAADP -PP is an open, African Union 
(AU) member States -led forum and organized to reflect, on  one hand, an element of continued 
learning to ensure its adaptation to changing circumstances, needs and aspirations and thereby, G/SPS/GEN/1566  
 
- 2 - 
 
  remaining relevant in advancing the CAADP vision and objectives. On the other hand, the CAADP 
PP stimulates and facilitates a  process of sharing and learning on substantive agricultural 
transformation iss ues including policies, institu tions, technologies, partnerships and alliances, as 
well as skills and knowledge. Representation in the 13th CAADP -PP was drawn from: Government 
political/policy and technical officials; Parliamentarians; RECs; farmers and farmers ' organizations; 
private sector; civil society organizations; knowledge and research institutions; development 
partners; and the development partners etc. The 13th CAADP -PP was held under the theme, 
"Strengthening Mutual Accountability to Achieve CAADP/Malabo Goals and Targets ". 
1.5.  Under the coordination of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Commission organized 
a series of meeting s related to advancing the Continental F ree Trade Area (CFTA) negotiation 
processes. This included the first and second CFTA Technical working Group in SPS in Kigali, 
Rwanda and Nairobi, Kenya respectively, the CFTA Task Forc e meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, 
the CFTA Negotiating Forum in Addis Abab a, Ethiopia. These meeting have guided the systematic 
development of the SPS Appendix, amongst other activities for the trade in go ods Annex of 
the CFTA protocol.  
1.6.  The African Union Commission, together with key regional organizations (OAPI, ARIPO, RECs) 
and supported by partners at internati onal level (FAO, EU), are in ad vanced stages with the 
development of a Continental Geographic Indications Strategy. The strategy is expected to 
facilitate promotion of uni que African commodities and ori gins-linked market ing within the overall 
framework of intellectual property and provision of the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual 
Property (TRIPS). The Aspirations of Agenda 2063 represent an inspiring guidance for the 
GI African strategy, so to ensure transfor mation an d sustainable development of the African 
Continent for future generations.  
1.7.  The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) continued with the implementation of 
its strategy in its six country of focus. PACA organized the Busi ness Meeting for Senegal  in 
May 2017 in Dakar. The meeting was attended by the relevant stakeholders targeted for 
strengthening partnership in managing aflatoxin in Senegal.  
1.1  The African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU -IBAR)  
1.8.  The Interafrican Bureau for Animal Re sources is a technical office of the African Union 
Commission with the mandate of providing leadership in the development of animal re sources for 
Africa through supporting and empowering AU member States and Regional Economic 
Communities. The SPS -related a ctivities undertaken by AU -IBAR include supporting member 
States to harmonize SPS regulatory  frameworks, supporting the par ticipation of member States to 
participate effectively in the WTO SPS Committee, in the standard setting processes of OIE and 
CAC and  promoting compliance with international standards through targeted capacity 
development programs.  
2  ANIMAL HEALTH  
2.1.  The 9th Panafrican Chief Veterinary Officers meeting and three meetings of African animal 
health experts to analyze and comment on OIE  proposed changes to the Terrestrial and Aquatic 
Animal Health Codes were held betwe en December 2016 and June 2017.  
2.2.  Outcome: Animal health issues of common interest to African countries were identified, 
coordinated positions proposed and articulated during  the OIE Code Commission in and 85th OIE 
General Session in 2017.  
3  FOOD SAFETY  
3.1  Expert meetings  
3.1.  The 8th Panafrican National Codex Contact Point Officers meeting was held in June 2017 to 
develop common positions on draft standards to be adopted by the 40th Session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission. African food safety expert 's consultation on nutrition and foods for 
special dietary uses, Food Additives, Contaminants in Foods and Pesticide Residues were organized G/SPS/GEN/1566  
 
- 3 - 
 
  to examine agenda items for the respective se ssion of the Codex committees between November 
2016 and March 2017.  
3.2.  Outcome: The meeting of food safety experts provided scientific advice to African Union 
member States during their preparation of national positions for the Codex committees. This is an 
effort of African Union to improve the effective participation of AU member States in the work of 
the Codex Alimentarius Commission and was implemented in collaboration with the Coordinator for 
CCAfrica.  
3.3.  AU-IBAR jointly organized a colloquium with the US Cod ex Office between Africa and 
US Delegates to share experiences and information on issues pertaining to the Codex Committee 
on Food Additives, Pesticide Residues and Contaminants in Foods.  
3.2  African Pesticide Residue Data Generation Project  
3.4.  The project has been running from 2013 and will end in 2017. It is sponsored by the STDF 
and co -implemented by AU -IBAR and USDA. The objective for this project is to strengthen regional 
capacity in pesticide residues data generation and monitoring for establishing, implem enting, and 
complying with Codex Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides. The project is intended to 
enhance the capacity of African countries to meet pesticide -related export requirements based on 
Codex standards. It provides practical experiences fo r African countries in conducting standard 
practices in residue field trials and risk analysis based on internationally accepted procedures.  
3.5.  Residue field trial has been conducted in all five participating countries namely Senegal, 
Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda,  and Kenya. The field trial was conducted for sulfoxaflur (a reduced risk 
insecticide) to be applied on mango crops. Several laboratory technicians have also been trained in 
Laboratory Quality Assurance and GLP pesticide residues analysis. Results from lab oratory analysis 
of the field trial samples will be sent to the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues for the 
development of Codex Maximum Resi due Levels . The objective for this training is to enhance 
expertise in generating, reviewing, and interpret ing field trial data.  
4  ACTIVITIES RELATED T O SPS COMMITTEE  
4.1  Workshop for members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP ) on improving the 
understanding of the sanitary and phytosanitary issues  
4.1.  AU-IBAR organized two workshops to improve the understanding of membe rs of the Pan 
African Parliament (PAP) on Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues for French -speaking PAP members 
in Côte d'Ivoire and for English -speaking PAP members in November 2016. Forty PAP members 
attended the workshop. The workshops are part of AU -IBAR's advocacy strategy on facilitating 
domestication of SPS requirements into national legislations and their implementation.  
4.2  AU-IBAR discussion forum on SPS matters in preparation for the 68th and 69th 
sessions of the SPS Committee in March 2017  
4.2.  AU-IBAR organ ized discussion forum for African delegates to the SPS Committee in order to 
discuss and prioritize SPS issues of interest to the African region. Priority matters for the 68th and 
69th session of the SPS Committee were agreed on.  
4.3.  AU-IBAR organized a 4 -day training workshop on SPS and Codex in June 2017 for members 
of the Liberia SPS Committee and National Codex Committee on SPS and Codex issues.  
4.3  The African Union Inter  African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC)  
4.4.  The African Union Inter African Phytosanitary Co uncil (AU -IAPSC) is the Regional Plant 
Protection Organization (RPPO) for Africa and responsible for the coordination of plant health 
related matters in the continent.  AU-IAPSC participated in the 12th Session of the Committee on 
Phytosanitary Measure (CPM -12) of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) held in 
Incheon, South Korea from 5 to 11  April 2017. IAPSC convened meetings of African delegates in 
the margins of CPM -12 to discuss strategic issues for Africa, particularly the rapid spread a nd 
infestation of fall army worms.  G/SPS/GEN/1566  
 
- 4 - 
 
  4.5.  IAPSC also organized its annual General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt to discuss governance and 
management of plant health in Africa. The AUC convened three preparatory meetings of the 
AU member States represented in the meeti ng to prepare common position to respond to matters 
arising in CPM -12. 
 
__________