G/SPS/GEN/1517  
 
13 October  2016 
(16-5557) Page: 1/2 
Committee on  Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
SADC SECRETARIAT  REPORT TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION S ANITARY  
AND PHYTOSANITARY CO MMITTEE MEETING ON S PS ACTIVITIES  
MEETING OF 27 -28 OCTOBER  2016 
The follow ing communication, received on 12 October 2016, is being circulated at the request of 
the secreta riat of the  Southern African Development Community  (SADC).  
 
_______________  
 
 
1  THE 2016 INTERNATION AL PLANT PROTECTION CONVENTION REGIONAL WORKSHOP 
FOR AFRICA  
1.1.  SADC secretariat facilitated participation of SADC member States in the 2016 Regional 
Workshop for  Africa through support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Southern 
Africa Sub -Regional Office – African Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) project. The workshop was 
hosted by the Inter -African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC) from 14 to 16 September  2016 in 
Addis  Ababa, Ethiopia.  
1.2.  Participation of member States in the workshop and exercises undertaken resulted in the 
identification of regional phytosanitary needs, regional emerging pests, greater understanding of 
import verification and concrete action s for the IPPC implementation pilot on surveillance.  
2  REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON  SPS IMPLEMENTATION P LAN DEVELOPMENT  
2.1.  SADC secretariat facilitated a regional workshop on development of regional implementation 
plans for plant health and food safety held in  Pretoria , South Africa from 25 –26 May 2016 based 
on the SADC Regional SPS Strategies.  
3  REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON  HARMONIZATION OF REG ULATIONS FOR THE 
MANAGEMEN T OF PESTICIDES  
3.1.  SADC secretariat with support from the European Union through the Regional Economic 
Integration  Support programme facilitated a regional workshop to harmonise regulations for the 
management of pesticides. The workshop was held from 14 to 16 June 2016 in Pretoria, 
South  Africa.  
4  PEST REPORTING  
4.1.  Tuta absoluta  has been reported to have been introduced in  Zambia. The National Plant 
Protection Organisation of Zambia reported through the International Plant Protection Convention 
portal on 14 September 2016.  
5  TRAINING WORKSHOP ON  THE PHYTOSANITARY CA PACITY EVALUATION  
5.1.  SADC secretariat participated in the 3rd Training workshop on Phytosanitary Capacity 
Evaluation (PCE) Facilitators organised by the IPPC secretariat . The Training workshop was held in 
Ronciglione, Italy, from 19 to 30 September 2016.  G/SPS/GEN/1517  
 
- 2 - 
 
  5.2.  Workshop participants were trained to broaden and enhance their e xpertise in facilitating the 
application of the PCE tool. The objective of the training was to improve existing or planned 
phytosanitary capacity systems the IPPC.  
6  SPS/TBT TECHNICAL ME ETING FOR THE TRIPAR TITE REGIONAL ECONOM IC 
COMMUNITIES  
6.1.  SADC secretariat participated in the Tripartite - Regional Economic Communities Sa nitary and 
Phytosanitary (SPS)/ Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Technical meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya 
from 4 to 6 July  2016. The meeting was held with support from the African Development  Bank 
(AfDB) through a Tripartite Capacity Building (TCB) Pro gramme for 13 Tripartite member /partner 
States from East African Community (EAC), SADC and Common Market for Easter n and Southern 
Africa (COMESA).  
6.2.  The purpose of the meeting was to simplify SPS m easures on selected trade routes and 
commodities in the recently launched Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) with a view to increasing 
intra-Tripartite trade.  
For more information, contact: Chiluba Mwape at cmwape@sadc .int. 
 
__________