Transcript PowerPoint-presentasjon

Capacity-building for
agricultural health and international
trading of agricultural products
Presented by
May-Guri Sæthre (Norwegian Crop Research Institute)
on behalf of
Sarah Olembo (Inter-African Phytosanitary Council)
Ranajit Bandyopadhay (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)
Emmanuel Tambo (Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources)
Global Trade
• Globalization is a fact of life
• The global economy moves towards a free market economy and
free trade
• It is however well known that the benefits of international trade are
not equally distributed
• The work to reduce tariff rates, notably for processed agricultural
products, has to continue
• Because of globalization the risk of introducing
biological (quarantine) organisms is increasing
WTO – SPS & TBT
 The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the ’SPS
Agreement’) was signed in 1994 and entered into force with the establishment of the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995
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Food safety and animal and plant health regulations
Codex Alimentarius, International Office of Epizootics (OIE) and Interim Commission on
Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM/IPPC)
International standards for international food trade
 The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs)
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Technical standards, testing and certification procedures
Affect on agricultural produce is minor compared to SPS
 The SPS (& TBT) agreements regulates how countries may protect food safety and
animal and plant health (establish protection, for example for human, animal or plant life
or the environment) without violating the WTO rules
Are these agreements about to become severe and complicated nontariff barriers to trade for developing countries?
Or can these agreements become a ‘standards-as-catalyst’ for those
countries taking a proactive attitude to comply with the standards?
Countries seek to protect themselves from new
biological invasions as a result of international trade
(SPS Agreement)
•
Invasive species pose a serious threat to agricultural productivity and
human health (financial, social and environmental costs)
•
A country can decide to apply the SPS agreement to ensure food safety
and animal and plant health
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The SPS agreement requires justification when SPS measures affect trade
•
Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) has to be done
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An assessment of the risk underpinning the appropriateness of trade
restrictions
•
Such risk assessments are required to follow certain international
standards
•
The assessments should be carried out by independent institutions and be
based on scientific standards
Global Trade & Food Safety
•
Globalization of the agriculture and food system increasingly demands that
food is produced in safe and environmentally friendly ways
•
EU is taking a holistic food-chain approach to food safety, covering all
sectors of the food chain
•
The ‘farm to fork’ principle requires a completely different level of inspection
and traceability of products, including:
– Primary production on the farm: feed of animals, fertilizer & pesticide regimes in
plant production, feed and water quality in fish-farming
– Transport conditions from the farm
– Cooling chains
– Handling and processing
– Storage conditions
– Transport to destination
What about
Africa?
Africa – SPS & TBT
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Implementation and compliance to international food safety standards in
African countries is a must to be in a position to benefit from the international
agreements that have reduced import taxes and other barriers to free trade
•
In addition to wealth creation, a very welcomed side-effect would be improved
domestic food safety and productivity
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Unfortunately, the SPS/TBT infrastructure are either weak, or the national
SPS/TBT focal point absent
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Many SPS systems are yet to be upgraded in response to the SPS-agreement
•
Where present, they are constrained by lack of transparency and clarity in the
definition and application of standards
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Case-by-case treatment leaves room for ad-hoc and discriminatory practices
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Effectiveness is weak due to inadequate equipment, non-availability of highly
skilled technical persons, inadequate capacity in risk assessment and a limited
laboratories accreditation program
•
Further complicated by lack of effective coordination mechanisms and interagency cooperation for the enforcement of regulations
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Inadequate regional coordination and harmonization
Africa – SPS & TBT
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There is low awareness about quality standards among exporters
•
African producers find it difficult to meet the basic food safety standards
demanded by the EU and other markets
Time for a Pan-African SPS-Initiative
Sanitary and
Phytosanitary
(SPS) measures
World Trade
Organisation
(WTO) standards
Objective:
To increase Africa’s
share in international
Markets
- Increased capacity to comply with
SPS measures
- Greater participation in the
harmonization process of SPS
measures
Time for a Pan-African SPS-Initiative
Capacity-building in
Sanitary and
Phytosanitary (SPS)
measures
• Institutional
• Policy
• Technical
Harmonisation of
Standards
• WTO standards
• Adaptation of domestic
legislation to international
standards
SPS for Africa
African Union (AU)
Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA)
African SPS focal point (a division in DREA):
Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC, regional organ under IPPC)
Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources, (IBAR, regional organ under OIE)
Platform for SPS capacity building and technology transfer:
IAPSC, IBAR
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Norwegian Crop Research Institute (NCRI)
Standard and Trade Development Facility (STDF, WBG)
Other partners/investors
Targeted capacity building and harmonizing standards
in response to regional and national needs
ECOWAS
Country 1
Country
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ECCAS
Country
1
Country
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COMESA
Country
1
Country
n
SADC
Country
1
UEMOA
Country
n
Country
1
Country
n
SPS for Africa
Some institutional aspects and activities
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Establish the platform from where the activities are to be carried out
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Complete the assessment of SPS status (capacity evaluation) and specific
needs of member states through country or sector specific surveys
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Establishment of SPS focal points (where missing)
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Upgrading of existing SPS systems in response to the SPS agreement
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Establish a web-site for sharing and dissemination of SPS information
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Develop a framework for enhancing public-private partnerships and dialog in
the SPS area
SPS for Africa
Some policy issues and activities
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Raising awareness at different levels for the needs in standard compliance
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Increase the level of participation and negotiating in standard setting
committees and their activities
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Support the countries in improving their capacities to anticipate and react to
changes in standards and norms (being proactive) to gain market
confidence
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Determine the roles of the various agencies involved in enforcing SPS
measures
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Establish mechanisms to ensure transparency and inter-agency coordination
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Analyze and report on trade related norms, standards and topics relating to
SPS and TBT
SPS for Africa
Some technical activities
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Training of national quarantine
services, crop protection and seed
production personnel
Laboratory
demonstrations for plant
quarantine officers
Classroom-based
training of crop
protection staff
Practical laboratory
training for plant
quarantine officers
SPS for Africa
Some technical activities
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Training of national scientists in
Pest Risk Assessment (PRA)
Development and maintenance
of pest distribution maps and
regulated pest lists (both webbased and on paper)
Develop field identification
manuals
SPS for Africa
Some technical activities
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Produce manuals for
sanitary and phytosanitary
treatments
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Prepare laboratory
technical manuals
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Prepare process manuals
SPS for Africa
Some technical activities
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Develop standards, controls
and identification tools (both for
training and use in the
individual countries and subregions)
Analysis of food contaminants
(pesticide residues in produce,
mycotoxins)
Development of diagnostic kits
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Supply kits (equipment,
documentation/manuals,
consumables, reagents) to
each trainee
Living local, growing global
Building SPS capacity in Africa is an
interdisciplinary process
The process can not be stronger
than its weakest disciplinary
component