African countries want all standards harmonised
There are at least 1,800 standards that need to be harmonised across the continent. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- The African Organisation for Standards says for the African Continental Free Trade Area dream to be realised, all countries must ensure that their standards are harmonised to reduce duplication
The African Organisation for Standards has said all countries on the continent must harmonise their standards to effectively trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Speaking at the 38th International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Committee for Conformity Assessment workshop organised by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), Dr Hermogene Nsengimana, the African Organisation for Standards secretary general, said if the African Continental Free Trade Area dream is to be achieved, all countries must ensure that their standards are harmonised to reduce duplication.
“We should borrow a leaf from the East African Community where they started harmonising standards. We need to move together if we want to push intra-continental trade,” he said, noting there has been an attempt to harmonise agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport standards at the continental level.
“We have over 1,800 standards. By June 200 would have been harmonised. This will reduce duplication and we are also trying to make standards simple for traders,” he said.
Trade across Africa continues to be disrupted due to variances in product standards and country specifications.
For instance, the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards last year seized several Ugandan trucks carrying cereals, flour, and wheat due to claims that they failed the aflatoxin test.
The 38th International Organisation for Standardisation meeting discussed emerging standards development, implementation, and enforcement trends at different levels.
Dr Nsengimana also said that if a country has ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area, it should use the African Organisation for Standards standard to ease trade.
Mr Andrew Othieno, the UNBS manager for standards, said they had harmonised various standards across different levels, developing both national and EAC standards, which have been harmonised into a single standard agreeable to all member states.
“We have now taken the idea for the African level, where we will have one standard. We want to see that there is no retesting of Ugandan products in other countries across Africa,” he said.
