Gbemenou Joselin Benoit Gnonlonfin, PhD ECOWAS-USAID Senior SPS Standards Advisor International Expert in SPS matters

1. 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

2. 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=0gfA3LOXUd
U&list=PL7r8EY5C1PNZjP1XNb8xuzq7K-8fAORwL)

3. 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)

4. 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

5. WTO SPS Committee – WTO SPS agreement
IPPC
OIE
Codex Alimentarius
Commission
WAQSP:
INFRASTRUCTURES;
accredited labs network
established, database
established

6. 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.

7. Objectives of the meeting
to 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

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

9. 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.

10. 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,

11. • Capacity building there was the first ECOWAS Member States
capacity strengthening on Codex related activities with focus on
capitalizing 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)

12. • 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)

13. 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