ECOWAS regional SPS program with referenced to private sector related activities

Gbemenou Joselin Benoit Gnonlonfin, PhD

ECOWAS-USAID Senior SPS Standards Advisor

International Expert in SPS matters

SPS MEASURES ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE, THERE ARE FOUNDATIONAL

ABIDJAN 22-24 NOVEMBER 2017

Play the two videos (total 3min.)

• Call for involvement of the private sector actors Codex Alimentarius interviews videos

• Exports are good for the local communities (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gfA3LOXUdU&list=PL7r8EY5C1PNZjP1XNb8xuzq7K-8fAORwL)

Introduction

• In the region SPS matters are not given the attention needed

• While it is recognized that SPS measures are important in order to:

• Ensure safe foods are available and traded

• Ensure consumers and animal health protection (significant reduction of diseases and death)

• Access markets as well as new market (more opportunities)

• Improve producers and private sector income (significant reduction of poverty)

• To achieve the above there is need to address SPS matters and harmonize regulation at national, regional and international levels

• Further their is need to apply (basically private sector) and enforce those regulations (governments)

Private sector

Make food products and ensure availability

Physical and technological training needed to be able to produce safe food

Should know where to put efforts in achieving that goal

WTO SPS Committee – WTO SPS agreement

IPPC

OIE

Codex Alimentarius Commission

WAQSP: INFRASTRUCTURES;

accredited labs network established, database

established

Services and collaboration: multi-stakeholders consultation

Harmonised regulations

Expertise from key departments

Expertise from legal office

Infrastructure: quality infrastructure

All stakeholders: producers, processors/industry & private sector, government officials (agriculture, health, trade/commerce, industry, private sector, education, finance, etc.), researchers, consumers, etc.

Objectives of the meetingto sensitize private sector actors and youth

enterprises on SPS matters,

to share benefits and success stories on implementing SPS requirements.

to review and document private sector and youth enterprise challenges as far as SPS matters are concerned

to identify joint areas of collaboration between the private sector and ECOWAS for improvement in compliance to SPS requirements.

to strategize on private sector actors and youth involvement in SPS work

Activitiy: Information/sensitization of private sector and SMEs on sanitary and phytosanitary norms and regulation

ACHIEVEMENTS since March 2017 (1)

• The ECOWAS Commission has a specialist in SPS matters embedded in the Department of Industry and Private Sector Promotion with support to the Directorate of Agriculture,

• ECOWAS Commission now has a Working Group and Scientific Council with a secretariat (Senior SPS Advisor), acting as an advisory body on SPS and TBT standards,

• ECOWAS has gained observer status with the World Health Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Technical Committees. This status has also been reactivated by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and the WTO Electronic Working Groups.

ACHIEVEMENTS since March 2017 (2)

• ECOWAS regional Action plan on plant pests and diseases prevention, surveillance and mitigation as well as a task force to ensure proper coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

• New tools and procedures at the disposal through training of border inspectors, for compliance with SPS standards ( plants and plant products inspection, sampling procedures and pest identification) to help promote plant quarantine operations and safe trade of plants and plant products in West Africa and beyond.

• Priority agricultural products in West Africa have been harmonized with respect to standards with reference to the Codex Alimentarius,

• Capacity building there was the first ECOWAS Member States capacity strengthening on Codex related activities with focus oncapitalizing success stories of 1st year implementation of CTF2

activities in Ghana and Senegal, sharing information and lessons learnt among member states, building capacity of member states in order to submit a bankable

CTF2 application, reviewing activities of the national codex committees as well as the

Food Safety actors network, identifying challenges faced by the Food Safety actors network,

defining strategy to alleviate the identified challenges, defining mechanism for financing and sustainability of the network

of sanitary actors in West Africa. As an impact of the training, 6 member States including Benin,

Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea Conakry, Mali and Sierra Leone) were able to submit their application on time. The feedback on the status is expected during the month of February 2018.

ACHIEVEMENTS since March 2017 (3)

• Beninese producers and their organizations trained in new techniques for the management and control of aflatoxins contamination in cereal (maize in particular), in accordance with SPS standards

• Physical participation of representatives of the ECOWAS Commission to regional, international SPS for a (codex Alimentarius, WTO-SPS committee, etc.)

ACHIEVEMENTS since March 2017 (4)

Perspectives (indicative)

• Prioritize SPS matters relevant for the region

• Organizing regional awareness campaign on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in food and feed (both top down and bottom up approaches)

• Organizing regional meeting to develop actions plan for AMR management

• Organizing regional meeting for harmonizing common position on matters of interest to be discussed at the WTO-SPS meeting

• Harmonizing SPS standards/food safety standards and implemented by member states

• Regional awareness-raising workshop on the new EU plant health regulation “Regulation EU-2016/2031” and its impact on priority export products

• Support participation of member states for their physical participation in international standards setting bodies meetings

• Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of diagnostic tool for assessing the status of national SPS and codex programmes in ECOWAS

• Assessment of national labo., their specialization and networking labs in the region

• Establishing regional experts groups in the priority matters (Contaminants, Pesticides Residues, Food hygiene, Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods, Food Additives, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables)

• Physical participation to international standards setting fora

• Developing SPS Strategy in ECOWAS region