G/TBT/GEN/189  
 
1 February 2016  
(16-0679)  Page: 1/8  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
REPORT ON THE SADC STANDARDIZATION, QUALITY ASSURANCE, 
 ACCREDITATION AND METROLOGY (SQAM) PROGRAMME  
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 
This document contains information provided  by SADC at the TBT Committee meeting of  
4-6 November 2015 under Agenda Item 4 (Update by Observers). 
 
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 1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  Elimination of TBTs in the SADC region is addressed under the framework known as the TBT 
Annex to the SADC Protocol on Trade. The Trade and Industry, Finance and Investment 
Directorate is a custodian of this framework and it supports the SADC Free Trade Area. There are four International Cooperating Partners/International Development Partners (ICP/IDPs) supporting 
the developmental aspects of the SQAM programme on TBT components at a regional level. These 
are the European Union, GIZ, PTB, SATH/USAID. Support for national quality infrastructure projects is obtained from UNIDO and is Member State driven. 
1.2.  For SADC Member States, the SQAM Programme has been actively engaged on assisting 
Member States to have available at least a basic technical infrastructure and in further building capacity as required by the TBT Annex to th e SADC Protocol on Trade. The SADC SQAM 
Programme follows a strategic proactive and developmental approach to continually strengthen the 
quality infrastructure available in the region in the quest to reduce and eliminate TBTs. Main 
activities include: 
a. Raising awareness for relevant stakeholders in SADC Member States on the importance 
and benefits of SQAM; 
b. Organizing and convening SADC Annual Quality Awards at regional level; 
c. Facilitating accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs); 
d. Facilitating training for Lead and Technical Assessors for SADC Accreditation Services 
(SADCAS); 
e. Operationalizing the SADC Technical Barriers to Trade Stakeholder’s Committee; 
f. Facilitating the identification of Technical Regulations hindering trade; and 
g. Coordinating the harmonization of standards, measurement systems and conformity 
assessment procedures, for harmonization of technical regulations 
1.3.  Progress on the implementation of the activities is summarized below. 
2  PROMOTION CAMPAIGN OF THE SADC ANNUAL QUALITY AWARDS 
2.1.  SADC Annual Quality Awards serve as a platfo rm for private sector engagement on quality of 
goods and services. The objective of the awards is  to recognise enterprises that are implementing G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  quality management principles for competitivene ss and market access. In the last year, four 
Member States organized their national quality competitions with a total of fourteen entries 
received from three Member States, covering categories on Organisation of the year, Product of the year, Service of the year, Exporter of th e year, for both large and small and medium 
enterprises and Individual Award. Out of the fourteen entries that were considered, four received 
awards, representing Mozambique, Namibia and Zi mbabwe. Etosha Fishing Corporation, a large 
enterprise from Namibia was awarded as SADC Organisation of the year and Exporter of the year, 
Nutriconsult LDA a small and medium enterprise from Mozambique was awarded for SADC Service 
of the year, and Schweppes Zimbabwe, a large en terprise was awarded for SADC Product of the 
year. 
2.2.  SADC Annual Quality Awards contribute to increased awareness of the importance on a 
quality culture and use of international standards for product competitiveness and in trade. SADC 
Member States continue to give support and engage departments and institutions to continue to organize the National competitions and encourage private and public sector institutions to 
participate. 
3  PREPARATION OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES (CABS) FOR ACCREDITATION 3.1.  The strategic long term plan for SADC SQAM Programme on CABs is to encourage CABs to 
pursue accreditation in order for their test certificates to be recognized the world over by their 
trading partners. The strategy is to assist CABs prepare for accreditation in way that will address seeming delays due to fundamental systems and pr ocesses not being in order for accreditation. 
While accreditation bodies can point out non-conformances they are not able to assist such bodies 
to carry out corrective actions before assessments. The idea is to assist these bodies to prepare 
well in order to avoid delays before accreditation.  
3.2.  The development of the strategy to assist CABs prepare for accreditation commenced in the 
4th quarter of 2014/2015 financial year, and was expected to be finalised in the 2nd quarter of 
2015/2016. So far a data collection exercise on challenges being faced by laboratories and certification bodies in their attempts to become accredited is underway. Inspection bodies will also 
be engaged following which the draft strategy w ill be developed. The strategy document was 
expected to be finalized by the end of March 2016.  While we await the completion of the strategy, 
in March 2014, 23 representatives from CABs were trained on conducting vertical assessments of 
their own facilities. 
3.3.  During the 2015/16 financial year the same group will be trained on method validation in 
preparation for accreditation. Method validation was identified as a constraint during the vertical assessment training. Whilst a start has only just been made in training laboratory representatives 
in preparation for accreditation, during awarenes s workshops, enterprises are being encouraged to 
use existing accredited CABs for their confor mity assessment needs which should encourage 
existing non-accredited CABs to seek accreditation.  The conclusion of the CAB Strategy is expected 
to assist in getting non-accredited CA Bs ready to apply for accreditation. 
4  TRAINING FOR LEAD AND TECHNICAL ASSESSORS 4.1.  In the quest to qualify and register lead  and technical assessors for the SADC Accreditation 
Service (SADCAS), 22 candidate Assessors who were trained on ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (ISO 
standard for testing and calibration bodies) earlier in 2014, received additional training in March 
2015, on Technical Assessing Techniques based on ISO/IEC ISO 17025:2005 to determine their competency levels for accreditation assessments, a prerequisite for registration with SADCAS. 
Thirteen (13) of these trainee assessors have been recommended for mentoring. As part of 
mentoring, the trainees will be expected to  conduct assessments in various Conformity 
Assessment Bodies (CABs) in the region under supervision by SADCAS Qualified Assessors.  
4.2.  Further training of Lead and Technical A ssessors on ISO/IEC 17020 (Inspection Bodies), ISO 
15189 (Medical Testing Laboratories), and the mentoring of Lead and Technical Assessors on ISO/IEC 17020 (Inspection bodies), ISO 15189 (Medical Testing Laboratories), ISO/IEC 17025 (Testing Laboratories) will be carried out in January 2016. The overall output of the training 
programme over the next two years is not only to have assessors trained but also to qualify and 
register them in the accordance with the ILAC/IAF requirements for international recognition. G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  5  SADCAS PEER EVALUATION FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION 
5.1.  In May-June 2015, SADCAS underwent a peer evaluation on the Testing Laboratory 
Accreditation Programme (TLAP) and Calibration Laboratory Accreditation Programme (CLAP). The evaluation team confirmed that the overall sy stem of SADCAS meets African Accreditation 
Cooperation (AFRAC) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) requirements. 
In particular the team highlighted that SADCAS operates its TLAP and CLAP substantially in 
accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011:2004 and IAF/ILAC-A5:11/2013. Laboratories 
accredited by SADCAS have been assessed against and found to comply with the requirements of 
ISO/IEC 17025: 2005. SADCAS adopts and substantially implements the applicable AFRAC and ILAC policies and guidelines. The team further note d that the full time SA DCAS staff is skilled and 
technically qualified for the functions they perform, and that the organization has a satisfactory 
foundation of accreditation experience. SADCAS has access to a sufficient number of well qualified, 
experienced and competent assessors and experts and that SADCAS has a well-established accreditation process which is applied consistently to the accreditation of its testing and calibration 
laboratories. 
5.2.  The team submitted a recommendation to the AFRAC MRA Committee and the ILAC AMC in 
October 2015. SADCAS achieved signatory status of its Testing and Calibration Laboratories 
Accreditation Programs in the AFRAC MRA as decided by the AFRAC MRA Council on 8 October 
2015. The ILAC decision will be made on 4 November 2015. 
6  TRAINING OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMEN TS BODIES IN THE MINING SECTOR 
6.1.  The effort to train testing laboratories management and staff on ISO/IEC 17025, the 
appropriate standard for testing laboratories, from both the private and public sector covering 
exploration, research and quality control in the mining and mineral processing sector in order to prepare them for accreditation is ongoing. This programme is expected to contribute to the 
strengthening of industrial capacities in the mining and minerals processing sector and enhance 
the competitiveness and integration into the world markets. The training is being conducted by SADCAS with funding via the SADC PTB Implementation Agreement. 
 
7  OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE SA DC TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
STAKEHOLDER’S COMMITTEE (SADCTBTSC) 
7.1.  The SADC Technical Barriers to Trade Stakeholders Committee (SADCTBTSC), an arm of the 
SADC SQAM Programme on private sector engagement, held a workshop in 26 – 27 August 2015. 
A work plan for the next year was developed. The work plan among others includes; continued awareness raising efforts for stakeholders, technical assistance for SMEs to obtain product and 
system certification, technical assistance with training on labelling and packaging and Good 
Manufacturing Practice. Stakeholders also requested for further roll out of the conformity assessment toolkit which had been developed by the SADC Cooperation on Accreditation (SADCA) 
and released in Kinshasa, DRC, in March 2015. The toolkit was developed to assist new conformity 
assessment bodies (CAB's) to understand what is required to prepare for accreditation from an accreditation body. The toolkit explains the term inology that is used and describes the whole 
accreditation process. It also gives tips on how to prepare a management system. 
8  IDENTIFICATION AND HARMONIZATION OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS HINDERING 
TRADE 
8.1.  On harmonization of technical regulations hind ering trade, data gathering to identify technical 
regulations (TR) that are hindering trade and require harmonization. The questionnaire was 
administered at national level by national experts. A consolidated report from four Member States was considered on the 3 – 4 August 2015 duri ng the meeting of the SADCTRLC workshop. The 
report identifies a total of fifteen (15) technical regulations that require harmonisation. This 
includes among others, biosafety regulations, second hand car regulations, importation of 
medicine, Standard Import Inspection Regulation, pre-packaged labelling regulations and Kimberly 
Process Regulations. While this list is not conclusive, texts of this regulations will be analysed 
further to determine their level of hindrance.  G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  8.2.  In order to guide Member States in the development of technical regulations by observing 
Good Regulatory Practice, Risk and Impact asse ssment Guidelines have been developed. The 
guidelines will assist regulators and legislators in taking practical evidence based decisions regarding the need for introducing, amending or withdrawing technical regulations governing the 
import, manufacture and sale of products. Member States representatives will be trained on these 
guidelines in November 2015. 
9  DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN E-MARKING SCHEME FOR REGULATED 
PRE-PACKED PRODUCTS IN THE SADC REGION 
9.1.  SADC Cooperation in Legal Metrology will be developing and implementing a legal metrology 
e-marking scheme for pre-packed products orig inating from any country in the SADC region, 
mutually recognized in all Member States, for ease of regulation, consumer protection and 
reduction of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs). The initial beneficiary of the project will be the 
Namibia Standards Institute (NSI). Key problems to be addressed include; capacity building of the LMA, Awareness and capacity building of industry  role players, Gazetting of SADCMEL documents 
as legal metrology technical regulations for Namibia, Development/ adoption and implementation 
of Namibian Standard on e-marking, Inspection s and auditing of packers and Accreditation by 
SADCAS of the NSI’s inspection services. The pilot phase of this effort covers only Namibia and the 
roll out to other Member States will follow once the pilot phase is completed. 
9.2.  The SADC region has a fairly developed legal metrology infrastructure, supported by Legal 
Metrology Authorities (LMAs), significantly supporte d by Governments. The responsibilities of the 
LMAs, among others, are to regulate pre-packed goods offered for sale. The SADC Cooperation in 
Legal Metrology (SADCMEL) has developed harm onised documents (SADCMEL documents 1 and 
SADCMEL Document 4) for the regulation of the labelling and permissible tolerances of pre-packed goods. The level of implementation of these harmonised documents has been varied across the 
region.  
9.3.  In spite of existing legal metrology harmonised documents whose implementation is meant to 
eliminate Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs), pr epacked products are still found to be non-
compliant as they are being traded across the bo rders, prompting the responsible LMAs to ‘lock 
out’ such products. Those products that may co mp ly to the  harmonis e d  SAD CM EL   doc ume nts , 
that are not easily identifiable as such, are su bjected to unnecessary inspections by the recipient 
LMA, thereby posing as a technical barrier to trade, and hindrance to trade facilitation. 
9.4.  The majority of SADC Member States do not have the capacity to develop and implement a 
credible scheme that will ensure that, if implemented properly, products that comply with legal metrology legislation are easily identified and a llowed entry easy into the marketplace of another 
economy. The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) of South Africa is the only 
legal metrology authority in SADC that is implementing a successful e-marking scheme based on compliance with a South African Standard (SANS 1841). Products originating from South Africa 
easily find their way into the SADC regional marketplace. 
 
10  COORDINATING THE HARMONIZATION OF STANDARDS, MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES, FOR HARMONIZATION OF TECHNICAL 
REGULATIONS 
10.1.  Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe have their facilities 
accredited under the scopes of Temperature and Mass. These facilities are being assisted in 
profiling their Calibration and Measurement Capabili ties (CMCs) to the ultimate submission to the 
Key Comparison database (KCDB). A training workshop was held to train staff from these National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) in the preparation of Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC) 
submissions, in the fields of Mass and Temperature, for publication in the BIPM Key Comparison 
Database (KCDB).  
10.2.  The International Committee for Weights and Measures Mutual Recognition Arrangement 
(CIPM MRA) is the framework through which National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) demonstrate the 
international equivalence of their measurement standards and the calibration and measurement 
certificates they issue. The outcomes of the A rrangement are the internationally recognized (peer-G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  reviewed and approved) Calibration and Measurem ent Capabilities (CMCs) of the participating 
institutes. Approved CMCs and supporting technical data are publicly available from the CIPM MRA 
database (the KCDB). 
11  JOINT UNIDO-SADC EXPERT GROUP M EETING ON “QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE 
PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES IN SA DC: AN OUTLOOK FOR COOPERATION 
11.1.  In order to identify areas of cooperation an d coordination and to learn from best practices, a 
joint UNIDO-SADC facilitated workshop on Quality Infrastructure projects and initiatives in the 
SADC region was organised in Gaborone, Botswana on 28 to 29 April 2015, Gaborone, Botswana. 
The workshop was attended by project beneficiary representatives from SADC Member States, representatives of International Development Part ners and project executing agencies. Twenty two 
(22) (Annex 1) delegates attended the meeting representing the SADC Member States, the SADC 
Secretariat, SADCAS, PTB, SATH and UNIDO. Representatives from the EU-funded ACP-TBT 
project were unable to attend due to prior engagements. However, information pertaining to current projects in this latter project was made available. Following a series of presentations made 
on the objectives and progress of each of the projects/programmes pertaining to quality 
infrastructure in SADC, gaps were identified and possible solutions suggested for the current projects on the development of Quality Infrastructure. This is summarized in the table below and 
These possible solutions will be used to feed in to upcoming programmes 
TABLE 1: GAPS IDENTIFIED AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 
Identified Gaps Possible Solutions 
Accreditation 
The importance of SADCAS and its 
services needs to be emphasized in 
Member States Optimization of accreditation services available 
Promote SADCAS as a cost effective, viable 
multi-economy solution to the region’s accreditation needs  
There is need for SADC Member States to support SADCAS 
Awareness Raising  
Consumer and policy makers education 
is still lacking 
 Consumer education should be included in 
awareness creation activities 
Support projects must emphasize on consumer awareness 
Targeted awareness for policy makers also required 
Capacity building 
Lack of national Quality Infrastructure 
Experts at national level  Organise exchange programmes or working 
visits to other National Standards and QI institutions to share experience and assist in 
building each other’s capacity in the region 
Leverage partnerships for training 
Make better use of regional and local expertise 
and experiences in the region for project 
implementation G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  Identified Gaps Possible Solutions 
Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) 
CABs still need to be assisted with readiness for 
accreditation 
 Support the operationalization of the Regional 
and National Laboratory Associations 
Accreditation of CABs is a priority and needs to be advanced Coaching of CABs in the key development 
sectors as identified in the SADC 
Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap There is need for capacity building  of Inspection Services
 
Coordination and Governance 
No project design without participation of 
beneficiaries Projects must be better coordinated for optimal 
utilization of limited resources 
 Technical Assistance projects must be designed 
to meet beneficiary needs and not technical partner dictates 
 There should be consultation with regional level 
project implementers prior to finalization of national level project plans  
 Align national projects to regional agenda 
Duplication of efforts exists in some areas 
 SADC Secretariat should take the lead in 
coordination efforts. An activity matrix should be developed and managed by SADC 
Secretariat, e.g. put on the SADC Website 
 Develop mechanisms to ensure avoidance of 
duplication  
 Cooperation in Monitoring and evaluation using 
common set of indicators  
 Projects must take into account existing 
structures and promote and strengthen  them, 
e.g. SADCAS  
 Align current and future projects to the SADC 
Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap  
 Difference in development of Quality 
Infrastructure in Member states should indicate 
to development partners where to focus their support 
Weak continuity of national projects  UNIDO to consider how Member States without 
QI projects/programmes can be assisted 
 QI is a very big area, focus interventions on 
limited aspects so as to achieve better results 
 Mechanisms to ensure continuity and 
sustainability of projects and programmes  G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  Identified Gaps Possible Solutions 
Information Sharing Platform 
No formal mechanism in place for information 
sharing about project activities taking place in 
the region Continue to organize information sharing 
platforms such as this one in a more sustainable 
manner: e.g. reports can be presented at SADC SQAM structures annual meetings  
Common challenges in the implementation of Quality Infrastructure instruments UNIDO should give direct feedback to National 
Standards Bodies on key challenges faced during project implementation  
Resolutions made during annual SQAM meetings not made available to current project 
coordinators The national TBTEG representative to be 
encouraged to share this information with 
executing agencies  
Private Sector Engagement 
Stakeholder engagement and consultation 
needs to be emphasized Project design stage must take on board all 
stakeholders including the private sector  
 More direct assistance to the private sector  
 Develop a harmonized approach to private 
sector engagement  
 Harmonization of curriculum development on QI 
and QA  
 Direct assistance towards private sector 
institutions for quicker results  
QI development currently does not speak to value chains in priority sectors Link projects to private sector needs and value 
chains  
 More structured assistance to SME needs  
 SME must be assisted with product 
development in order to produce high quality 
 Support of development of QI must go in 
parallel with support to enterprises and consumer s to utilize the QI Services  
Standardization 
Private standards continue to create challenges for producers Deal with the issue of private standards  
There is a disconnect between QI institutions 
and Regulatory Agencies which needs to be bridged Solicit support for harmonization of Technical 
regulations  
 Develop mechanisms to bridge the gap between 
QI and regulatory agencies  
 Guidelines for Quality Policy development in the 
region  G/TBT/GEN/189 
 
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  Identified Gaps Possible Solutions 
SADC Annual Quality Awards 
Limited of participation in SADC Annual Quality 
Awards Support for national and regional quality award 
competitions 
 Member States to consider including National 
Quality Awards competitions as part of their 
project outputs  
 Involve the Private sector in running National 
Quality Awards competitions  
 Include a category specifically supportive of 
women in business in the national and regional 
quality awards  
Technical Regulations 
Lack of support for quality infrastructure related 
to the development In addition to the current scope of projects, 
propose new scope to include administration 
and enforcement of technical regulations  
  
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