G/SPS/GEN/1234  
 
15 March 2013  
(13-1441)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 WTO SPS COMMITTEE MEETING 
18–22 MARCH 2013, GENEVA SWITZERLAND 
INFORMATION ON SPS ACTIVITIES OF THE AFRICAN UNION 
 
The following communication, received on 14 March 2013, is being circulated at the request of the African Union. 
 
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1  CAPACITY BUILDING 
1.1.  From 27 to 30 November 2012, AU-IBAR with the technical assistance of the Secretariat of 
the SPS Committee, STDF, OIE and IPPC, conducted a refresher training of trainers' workshop for 
the effectiveness of the participation of African countries in the activities of international standard 
setting organizations, in Dakar, Senegal. Th e workshop targeted African French-speaking 
countries. It was attended by 32 participants from 23 countries and four participants from four 
regional organizations. 
1.2.  Beneficiaries of the trainings were from the three sub-sectors (animal health, plant health 
and food safety), from the private sector as well as the SPS focal points or notification authorities that had previously attended regional or continental training of trainers. 
2  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
2.1.  In order to foster the inter-sectoral coordina tion at country level with regard to SPS matters, 
the African Union has supported the member States to establish national SPS coordination 
mechanisms (SPS committees) where they do not ex ist or to strengthen them where they exist. 
2.2.  Before the existence of the AU-IBAR's "Par ticipation of African Nations in Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Standards-setting Organizations" (PAN-SPSO) project, seven countries had 
established national SPS committees. With the support of AU-IBAR, thirty-three more were 
established. The list of countries where national SPS committees were established (marked *), prior to and after the start of the PAN-SPSO projec t, are outlined in table 1. Among them, only six 
countries have used a legal framework to create them and to allocate a budget for their 
functioning. 
2.3.  Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Togo requested AU-IBAR's 
assistance to hold meetings of SPS stakeholders to establish or strengthen the national SPS 
committees. G/SPS/GEN/1234 
 
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  Table 1: National SPS Committees 
 COUNTRIES EXISTENCE 
YES OR NO LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
1 Burkina Faso YES YES 
2 Senegal YES NO 
3 Mauritania YES NO 
4 Mali YES NO 
5 Niger YES YES 
6 Morocco NO  
7 Comoros NO  
8 Madagascar NO  
9 Mauritius YES NO 
10 Malawi YES NO 
11 Seychelles YES NO 
12 Zambia YES NO 
13 Congo Democratic 
Rep. YES NO 
14 Eritrea NO  
15 Burundi YES NO 
16 Kenya* YES NO 
17 Rwanda YES NO 
18 Tanzania YES NO 
19 Uganda* YES NO 
20 Cameroon YES NO 
21 Central African 
Republic YES YES 
22 Chad NO  
23 Congo YES NO 
24 Equatorial Guinea YES NO 
25 Gabon YES NO 
26 Sao Tome & Principe YES NO 
27 Benin YES NO 
28 Cape Verde YES NO 
29 Cote d'Ivoire YES  
30 Gambia YES YES 
31 Ghana YES NO 
32 Guinea YES YES 
33 Guinea Bissau YES  
34 Liberia YES  
35 Nigeria YES  
36 Sierra Leone YES  
37 Togo YES YES 
38 Djibouti YES NO 
39 Sudan YES NO 
40 Ethiopia NO  
41 Somalia NO  
42 Angola NO  
43 Botswana* YES NO 
44 Lesotho* YES NO 
45 Mozambique YES NO 
46 Namibia* YES NO 
47 Egypt NO  
48 Tunisia NO  
49 Libya NO  
50 South Sudan NO  
51 Swaziland* YES NO 
52 South Africa NO NO 
53 Zimbabwe* YES NO 
54 Algeria NO  
 G/SPS/GEN/1234 
 
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  3  COORDINATION OF SP S RELATED-ACTIVITIES 
3.1  Food safety authority and rapid alert system 3.1.  On 29 and 30 October 2012 in Kigali, the first workshop of African food safety specialists and 
Codex contact points was held with the objective to discuss the mechanisms and procedures for 
putting in place a system for ensuring the safety and quality of food produced and traded on the 
African continent, and to consider a proposal for establishing a system for alerting all AU member 
States of any food safety concerns. 
3.2.  The workshop was attended by 52 particip ants including food safety specialists, Codex 
contacts point persons and food safety manage rs from 29 AU member States, AU Technical 
Centres, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) , the European Union (EU), the United Nations 
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and EDES. 
3.3.  The Workshop concluded and recommended th at there is a need to urgently consider and 
adopt the establishment of an AU Food Safety Management Coordination Mechanism (AU-FSMCM) incorporating an Africa-wide Rapid Food and Feed Alert Mechanism (ARFFAM), in the lines of the 
Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the Interafrican Phytosanitary Council 
(AU/IAPSC). 
3.4.  A follow-up workshop is planned to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a date to be 
determined. 
3.2  Coordination of continental common posi tion for animal health, plant health and 
food safety since 2009 
a. Animal health 
A meeting of animal health experts will be held from 25 to 26 March 2013 to analyse and 
provide comments on the OIE Terrestrial and Aquatic Codes in preparation of the 81
st General Session of OIE World Assembly of Delegates. 
A meeting of African OIE Delegates will be held from 14 to 15 April 2013 in Abidjan, 
Côte d'Ivoire, to build coordinated positions on animal health standards in preparation 
for the 81st OIE General Session 2013. 
b. Food safety 
A meeting of African experts on food additives was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4 to 
6 February 2013 to provide technical advice to African delegates attending the 45
th Session of the Codex Commi ttee on Food Additives. 
A meeting of African experts on contaminants in food was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 
4 to 6 February 2013 to provide technical advice to African delegates attending the 7
th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food. 
c. Plant health 
A preparation meeting of the IPPC member countries of the Africa Region for their 
participation in the 8th CPM Session was held in Entebbe, Uganda, from 11 to 13 March 
2013. 
3.3  Support to RECs for coordination of regional common positions 3.5.  A meeting of OIE Delegates from ECOWAS member States will take place in Abuja, Nigeria, 
from 28 to 29 March 2013 for regional coordinated positions on OIE animal health standards in 
preparation for the continental meeting in April 2013 in Côte d'Ivoire. 
3.6.  A similar meeting will take place in Nairobi on 5 and 6 April 2013 for EAC member States. G/SPS/GEN/1234 
 
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  3.4  Strengthening consultation processes at national level for articulation of national 
positions 
3.7.  Despite the offer made by AU-IBAR to assist member States in consolidating national 
common positions on SPS standards, no country has requested assistance from AU-IBAR yet. 
 Facilitation of attendance to ISSO meetings for RECs and member States 
3.8.  AU-IBAR supports RECs delegates or member States delegates to attend the international 
meetings of ISSOs or the WTO SPS committee. 
4  SUPPORT FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SPS STANDARDS 
 Identification, traceability systems and certification for pastoral areas:  
 AU-IBAR is implementing activities on identification and traceability of livestock and 
livestock products and certification in pastoral areas; 
 On-going consultation process with countries and RECs and feasibility studies 
on-going; 
 Pilot activities in selected countries (Horn of Africa and Sahel) are being launched. 
 Honey compliance with international standards: 
 New project with a component on compliance of honey with international standards is 
being launched (EU support). 
 
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