G/SPS/GEN/1563  
 
30 June 2017  
(17-3532) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanita ry Measures  Original: English  
 
 
INFORMATION ON SPS ACTIVITIES OF THE AF RICAN UNION  
The following communication, received on 29 June 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
African Union . 
 
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1  INTERAFRICAN BUREAU FOR ANIMAL RESOURCES  (AU-IBAR) SPS -RELATED 
ACTIVITIES  
1.1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources is a technical office of the African Union 
Commission with the mandate of providing leadership in the development of animal resources for 
Africa through supporting and empowering AU member States a nd Regional Economic 
Communities. The SPS -related activities undertaken by AU -IBAR include supporting member 
States to harmonize SPS regulatory frameworks, supporting the participation of member States to 
participate effectively in the WTO SPS Committee, i n the standard setting processes of OIE and 
CAC and promoting compliance with international standards through targeted capacity 
development programs.  
1.2  ANIMAL HEALTH  
1.2.  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 between December 2016 and June 2017.  
1.3.  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.  
1.3  FOOD SAFETY  
1.3.1   Expert meetings  
1.4.  The 8th Panafrican National Codex Contact Point Officers meeting was held in June 2017 to 
develop common positions on dr aft standards to be adopted by the 40th Session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission. African food safety experts consultation on nutrition and foods for 
special dietary uses, Food Additives, Contaminants in Foods and Pesticide Residues were organized 
to examine agenda items for the respective session of the Codex committees between November 
2016 and March 2017.  
1.5.  Outcome: The meeting of food safety experts provided scientific advice to African Union 
member States during their preparation of national position s 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.  G/SPS/GEN/1563  
 
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  1.6.  AU-IBAR joint ly organized a colloquium with the US Codex 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.  
1.3.2   African Pesticide Residue D ata Generation Project  
1.7.  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, implementing, 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 standard s. It provides practical experiences for African countries in conducting standard 
practices in residue field trials and risk analysis based on internationally accepted procedures.  
1.8.  Residue field trial have 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 pest icide residues analysis. Results from laboratory analysis 
of the field trial samples will be sent to the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues for the 
development of Codex Maximum Residue Levels . The objective for this training is to enhance 
expertis e in generating, reviewing, and interpreting field trial data.  
1.4  ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SPS COMMITTEE  
1.4.1   Workshop for members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) on improving the 
understanding of the sanitary and phytosanitary issues  
1.9.  AU-IBAR organized two worksh ops to improve the understanding of members 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 work shop. The workshops are part of AU -IBAR's advocacy strategy on facilitating 
domestication of SPS requirements into national legislations and their implementation.  
2  AU-IBAR DISCUSSION FORU M ON SPS MATTERS IN PREPARATION FOR THE 68TH AND 
69TH SESSIONS OF THE  SPS COMMITTEE IN MAR CH 2017  
2.1.  AU-IBAR organized 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.  
2.2.  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.  
 
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