G/SPS/GEN/1990  
 
7 February 2022  
(22-0900) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
ECOWAS IMPLEMENTED SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY ACTIVITIES DURING THE 
PERIOD OF NOVEMBER 2021 – FEBRUARY 2022  
COMMUNICATION FROM ECOWAS -USAID SENIOR SANITARY  
AND PHYTOSANITARY (SPS) STANDARDS ADVIS OR 
The following communication, received on 7 February 2022 , is being circulated at the request of the 
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  
 
_______________  
 
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The USAID/West Africa Regional Mission, USDA, Food and Agriculture Organ ization Subregional 
Office for West Africa (FAOSFW) and Food and Agriculture Organization Resilience Office for West 
Africa and the Sahel (FAOREOWA) work to support the Economic Community of West African 
States  (ECOWAS) to advance their vision to create an  economic union and common market. In line 
with this objective, ECOWAS is implementing many agreements designed to support the free 
movement of goods and people throughout the region. Since 2017, SPS -related actions have been 
implemented.  
1.2.  In view of improv ing and strengthening SPS activities in the ECOWAS region, the following 
activities were implemented during the period of November 2021 - February 2022. It is to note that 
since March 2020, the COVID -19 pandemic that is still with us has impacted the smoot h 
implementation of SPS -related activities at national and regional levels. As such, most planned 
SPS-related activities were postponed till further notice. However, certain technical and capacity 
building activities were implemented at national and region al levels, following the COVID -19 
protocols.  
2  PLANT HEALTH AND PLANT PROTECTION  
2.1  Continuation of training workshop on the "Use of the Harmonized Phytosanitary 
Inspection and Decision -Making Guide"  
2.1.  Following several coordination meetings, the plan has now been approved for the continuation 
of the training workshop on the "Use of the Harmonized Phytosanitary Inspection and 
Decision -Making Guide". This is an effort of USDA -FAS dedicated to support West Africa National 
Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) Ta skforce to disseminate the harmonized Guide in order to 
promote best practices in the conduct of plant quarantine operations in the sub -region. The trainings 
were conducted on 14-16 December  2021 in Elubo, border with Ghana (step down training) and on 
25-27 January  2022 in Banjul (The Gambia). Twenty (20) and fifteen (15) plant quarantine 
inspectors in Ghana and The Gambia, respectively,  were trained and capacitated to duplicate the 
training and also applied it in their daily operations. There were:  
- presen tations and discussions on the provisions of the Guide related to phytosanitary 
inspection procedures for import and export;  
- presentations of ISPMs 05, 07, 11, 12, 23, 31 and 32; and  
- exercises with practical demonstrations of inspection, sampling, pest de tection and 
identification and decision -making.  G/SPS/GEN/1990  
 
- 2 - 
 
  2.2.  It is important to recall the programme  aims at:  
- training plant quarantine inspectors in the countries on a better understanding for further 
use of the Guide;  
- simulati on exercises with practical demonstratio ns of phytosanitary inspection including pest 
detection and identification at the laboratory;  
- testing the applicability of the Guide.  
2.3.  As of today, 125 plant quarantine inspectors have been trained in the region including countries 
of Benin, C ôte d'Ivoire, Cabo Verde, Ghana, The Gambia and Nigeria. This initiative is in line with 
ECOWAS priorities through its agricultural development programme (ECOWAP 2025) and the 
implementation of the regional SPS framework to help West African countries' plant quarantine 
systems meet international standards and to promote safe trade.  
2.2  Capacity building of plant quarantine inspectors on risk communication and pest risk 
analysis support tools and pest surveillance  
2.4.  Online training on risk communication was conducted for plant  quarantine inspectors of Liberia 
and Sierra Leone. Twenty -four (24) technical staff of both countries were trained.  
2.5.  Also, there was a joint ECOWAS -CABI training on CABI Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) support tools 
for NPPOs in ECOWAS sub -region, on 13-17 Decem ber 2021. The key objectives were:  
- to strengthen risk analysis skills in the ECOWAS member States;  
- to highlight the notification process for new pests to the International Plant Protection 
Convention (IPPC);  
- to train on the use of the CABI PRA & Horizon Sc anning Tools and Crop Protection 
Compendium (CPC); and  
- to share amongst ECOWAS member States any other best practices and relevant information 
with regards to PRA.  
2.6.  Thirty -one (31) competent authorities from 11 countries from the ECOWAS member States 
were t rained.  
2.7.  Online training on pest surveillance was lunched on 26 January  2022. About 124 participants 
from 11 ECOWAS member States are participating in this online course. At the end of this course 
(10 February  2022), there will be a debriefing meeting on 18 February  2022 to review and assess 
the success and challenges of this online training.   
2.3  Coordination, monitoring and on boarding and implementation of the e -Phyto by 
ECOWAS member States  
2.8.  Since 7 December  2021 Senegal has completed the onboarding process a nd the first e -Phyto 
certificates were exchanged with EU member States. Senegal is now the second country, after 
Ghana, in the sub -region of the West Africa and Sahel. The e -Phyto certificates exchanged through 
the Hub of the IPPC are intended for France a nd the Netherlands and concern off -season horticultural 
products including cherry tomato and melon. Other trade partners of Senegal have been notified of 
this new development.  
2.4  West Africa NPPOs and Partners ' Taskforce annual meeting and preparation of the  
Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM -16) meeting  
2.9.  The Regional West Africa NPPOs and Partners Taskforce meeting and preparation of the 
harmonized of common position for the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM16) meeting is 
being planned to be held on 7 -11 March 2022, Cotonou (Benin). Participants are NPPOs from 
15 ECOWAS member States, plus Chad and Mauritania, as well ECOWAS 's regional partners.  G/SPS/GEN/1990  
 
- 3 - 
 
  3  FOOD SAFETY  
3.1  Participation in the virtual forty -fourth session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
meeting, 8 November – 14 December 2021  
3.1.  We participated in the virtual  forty-fourth session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
meeting and also coordinated member States' position on matters of interest discussed during the 
meeting .  
4  GENERAL CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD  
4.1.  The ECOWAS Commission takes this opportunity to thank all partners for their continued 
support in advancing SPS -related issues in the ECOWAS and Sahel sub -region, and to call for more 
collaboration, and support for fut ure implementation, especially in the new era of and 
post COVID -19. 
 
__________