G/SPS/GEN/1696  
 
15 March 2019 
(19-1610) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS A CTIVITIES OF THE AFR ICAN UNION COMMISSION  
 
The following submission , received on 13 March 2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
African  Union . 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) activities at  the African Union Commission have been 
driven from the Agriculture front on the need to safeguard human, animal or plant life or health and 
from the Trade front on the need to eliminate non -tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade arising from the 
implementation o f SPS measures. The African Union Commission supports at various levels, SPS 
initiatives and work at the national and Regional Economic Community (REC) level.  
2  AGRICULTURE  
2.1.  Cognizant of the challenges and opportunities of agriculture and its positive contrib ution to 
economic transformation on the African Continent, African Union (AU) leaders adopted the 
Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) in the Maputo Declaration in 
2003. CAADP remains Africa's policy framework for agriculture and  agriculture -led development and 
was specially formulated to stimulate the necessary reforms in the agriculture sector and bring 
agriculture to bear on the socio -economic growth and sustainable development.  
2.2.  Central to the success of Africa's agricultural d evelopment strategies is the ability of member  
States to meet Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards for both the assurance of food safety, 
plant and animal life or health, as well as market access. Amongst the seven Malabo thematic areas 
of performanc e commitment was 'Boosting intra -African trade in agricultural commodities and 
services'.  
3  FIRST INTRA AFRICA T RADE FAIR  
3.1.  Held in Egypt, Cairo in December 2018, it was an opportunity to engage with all stakeholders, 
in particular the private sector, civil so ciety and consumers on the African Continental Free Trade 
Area (AfCFTA) and other issues that are critical to boosting intra -African trade. The Trade Fair 
featured a conference segment that included panel sessions on understanding policies and legal 
framew orks for Intra African and international Trade facilitation. These sessions covered issues 
related to boosting intra Africa trade and the strategies for coordinating stakeholders on Africa's 
engagement in the multilateral trading system, including WTO nego tiations , as well as trading 
arrangements with key trading partners such as the EU (EPAs), US (AGOA) and others. The sessions 
also included discussions on "Intra -African trade finance and payment systems ", which is a critical 
component of trade in services  and other B oosting Intra -African Trade (BIAT)  clusters. There were 
high level panel discussion s on Building Africa's Manufacturing Capacities on the shoulders of SMEs 
and a training programme on how to export, targeting SMEs , all of which will contribute to the 
domestication and implementation of the Africa's SME strategy. The Africa Union provided booth 
managers and staff to handle inquiries in the AU pavilion that featured policy and trade promotion 
materials.  G/SPS/GEN/1696  
 
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  4  THE AFRICAN CONTINEN TAL FREE TRADE AREA AND THE AFRICA SPS COMMI TTEE  
4.1.  The main aim of the Continental SPS Committee is to guide the coordination and   
implementation of SPS matters at the continental level. The specific task of the Continental SPS 
Committee would be to promote mainstreaming of SPS is sues (food safety, plant and animal health) 
into CAADP implementation and other agriculture, trade -related, health and environmental initiatives 
and frameworks . In this regard, the tasks of the Continental SPS Committee will include:  
− Capacity development;  
− Coordination and harmonization;  
− Policy guidance and advocacy.  
4.2.  This week, the Committee met on 20 March 2019 to:  
− Discuss the development of the AU Continental SPS policy framework;  
− Unpack the priorities in the AfCFTA Annex on SPS;  
− Provide insights into an Africa Food Safety Agency ; and 
− To share key lessons and best practices.  
5  THE FIRST INTERNATIO NAL FOOD SAFETY CONF ERENCE  
5.1.  The first FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference was hosted by the African Union 
in Addis Ababa Ethiopia from 12 to 13 February  2019. The conference was attended by over 
700 delegates including Government leaders, senior policy makers, and representatives from 
international organizations, civil society and the private sector. The objective of the conference was 
to identify key act ions and strategies to address current and future challenges to food safety globally; 
and to strengthen commitment at the highest political level to scale up food safety in the 
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The conference was opened by the Chair person of the 
African Union Moussa Faki Mahamat. The Directors General of FAO, WHO and WTO were also present.  
5.2.  The Conference highlighted the following:  
− The need to strengthen efforts on raising awareness on food safety at all levels, improving 
knowledge o n food safety management practices in the food industry and consumer 
empowerment must be relentless;  
− The need for sustainable investment in modern and effective national food control systems 
and building human capacities to improve regulatory control and c ompliance with food safety 
requirements;  
− Focusing efforts on strengthening cooperation and smart  partnerships in order to utilize the 
synergies that are afforded by the sharing of experiences and resources;  
− And the need for more commitment for dedicated fu nding for training, research and 
technology transfer to support food safety management interventions.  
5.1  ANIMAL HEALTH STRATEGY FOR AFRICA AND SPS AWARENESS CREATION  
5.3.  In November 2018, the African Union launched the Animal Health Strategy for Africa. 
The Strategy harmonizes already existing animal health agendas, commitments, frameworks, tools 
and guidelines for a more coordinated approach to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of 
animal health delivery systems in Africa.  
5.4.  The 7th experience sharing works hop on Sanitary Regulations and Enforcement was jointly held 
by the African Union Inter -African Bureau for Animal Resources and the Pan African Parliament (PAP) 
from 27 to 29 September 2018 in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia. The workshop articulated the 
oversight role of members of the Pan African Parliament and other Parliamentarians on SPS issues 
and their tracking using monitoring and evaluation system.  
5.2  ENHANCING PARTICIPATION OF AU MEMBER STATES IN THE WORK OF 
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SETTING ORGANIZATION  
− Coordinated AU member States to develop African common positions on draft Chapters of 
the terrestrial animal health code and aquatic animal health code to the OIE Commission 
meetings held in February 2019 ; G/SPS/GEN/1696  
 
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  − Coordinated development of common positions on food hygiene and antimicrobial resistance 
for the Codex sessions on food hygiene and antimicrobial resistance held in November and 
December 2019 respectively.  
6  COORDINATING FALL AR MYWORM MANAGEMENT IN  AFRICA  
6.1.  The voracious fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda ), first formally reported in Africa in 
January 2016, has since been reported in 44 countries in February 2018. It is a pest that poses a 
serious threat to the food security and livelihoods of millions of African smallholders and their 
families. The pest al so poses a serious threat to the achievement of goals that African countries have 
committed to in the CAADP Malabo Declaration of halving poverty by 2025 and the 2030 agenda of 
Sustainable Development Goals. Africa needs a strong and a coordinated response  for effective 
action to address the outbreak of fall armyworm.  
6.2.  From 11 -13 March, the Commission and FAO organized a training session to strengthen the 
capacity of AU member States to improve their national surveillance system and integrated pest 
manageme nt. 
6.3.  The African Union, during the special workshop held on 18 March 2019, outlined its coordinative 
role in FAW management.  
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