east african community secretariat 15th east african standards committee meeting naura springs ...

248 Pages·2011·5.74 MB·English

EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT
15TH EAST AFRICAN STANDARDS COMMITTEE MEETING
NAURA SPRINGS HOTEL
ARUSHA, TANZANIA
2ND TO 3RD JUNE 2011
REPORT OF THE MEETING
REF:EAC/TF/46/2011
EAC SECRETARIAT
Arusha, Tanzania
June, 2011
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EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT
15TH EAST AFRICAN STANDARDS COMMITTEE MEETING
NAURA SPRINGS HOTEL
ARUSHA TANZANIA
2ND TO 3RD JUNE 2011
REPORT OF THE MEETING
1. OPENING OF THE MEETING
1.1 Introduction
The meeting was held in accordance with the calendar of EAC activities for
the period January to June 2011. The meeting was attended by delegates
from 5 EAC States of Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda; and
representatives of the private sector and development partners from AFSEC,
EABC, TMEA, PTB, COMESA, UNIDO, COMPETE and ASARECA.The list of
the delegates is hereto attached in Annex 1
1.2 Constitution of the Bureau
Mr. Damien Nakobedetse, the Managing Director, Burundi Bureau of
Standards chaired the meeting, while Mr. Reuben Gisore, Kenya Bureau of
Standards was the Rapporteur.
1.3 Remarks from the Director General (Customs & Trade)
In his opening, Mr. Peter Kiguta, the Director General of Customs and Trade
(DG, C&T)welcomed the delegates to the 15th meeting of the East African
Standards Committee and noted the commitment of Partner States towards
harmonization of SQMTactivities in the Community.
Free movement of goods was recognized as a key pillar for the East African
Community's integration agenda and this led to the establishment of the
East African Standards Committee at the very onset of the Community. Mr.
Kiguta noted that since the signing of the EAC Treaty on 30th November
1999, various instruments had been established to eliminate technical
barriers to trade such as the EAC SQMT Protocol which, among other
things, urged Partner States to establish mutual recognition of product
certification marks issued by the NSBs ofPartner States.
The DG noted that occasionally, Partner States had experienced technical
barriers to trade but it was encouraging to note that each time, there were
successful efforts to surmount them. The DG thanked the committee for its
initiative to address barriers by establishing relevant structures such as the
Technical Management Board to rapidly address TBTs. The DG emphasized
that the work of the EASC was important in supporting operations of the
Common Market.
Mr. Kiguta thanked development partners for the support they had extended
to the Community in their various capacities. He highlighted six current
projects which were being supported by development partners:
1. PTB had a long-term project to support the establishment of an EAC
quality infrastructure which started in 2004. The project had achieved
many objectives notably the establishment of the EAC SQMTAct, 2006,
training of personnel in various fields and equipping of metrology
laboratories in Partners States. The project was in its third phase that
would end in December 2012.
2. The Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) in conjunction with the Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA)had a 5-year project on Trade
Promotion and Poverty Reduction through Environmental Standards for
the EAC Region. The project was currently supporting EAC Partner
States to participate in the development of the international standards
ISO 14067, Carbon footprint of products and ISO 13065, Sustainable
criteriafor bioenergy which were ofparticular importance to the region.
3. The African Organization for Standardization (ARSO)in conjunction with
UNEPwas running an Eco labeling project in the EAC.
4. UNIDO in conjunction with NORADwere running a five-year project of
building trade capacity in agro-industry. The UNIDOjTCB project was
coming to an end in July 2011. In its meeting in April 2011, Council
approved a request by the EAC Secretariat to approach the financiers,
NORAD,to extend the project.
5. AUjlBAR was building capacity among African experts to effectively
participate in international standards setting bodies such as OlE, Codex
and IPPC.
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6. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),that
supported the development EAS 456 in 2007, was interested in the
review of the standard in order to align it with the current EU standard
on organic products to enhance market access of EACproducts into the
EU. IFOAMwas also considering supporting the EACto develop a policy
on organic farming.
The DG informed the meeting that Trade Mark East Africa and the EAC
Secretariat had signed an MOU to promote regional integration including
capacity building for the SQMToffice. He thanked all development partners
for assisting in the various aspects.
He wished the meeting fruitful deliberations.
1.4 Remarks from the COMESArepresentative
Mr. Andrew Ngone, Senior Trade PolicyAdvisor delivered a goodwill message
from the COMESA Secretary General. In his remarks, the COMESA
representative noted that the EACwas in the lead in the regional integration
and congratulated the EACfor commitment in matters of SQMT.
Mr. Ngone informed the meeting that the EAC, SADC and COMESA were
working together to create the Tripartite Free Trade Area in accordance with
the Tripartite Summit's Kampala Communique of 22nd October 2008. He
also noted that officials from the EAC and COMESAwere working together
in many areas such as SQMT,trade remedies, barriers to trade, agriculture,
energy and others.
He reiterated that the integration ofthe RECs would help Africa in achieving
the objective of Africa-wide integration into a single market within the
African Economic Community. It was expected that such integration would
lead to increased inter-African trade and general rise in incomes. The
integration would turn the region into a net exporting region rather than a
consumer region.
Mr. Ngone noted that regionally acceptable staple foods standards were a
prerequisite for the warehousing receipt system and was pleased that the
EAChad led the way in developing the standards.
He informed the meeting that experts from the three RECs had met in
Nairobi three times and finalized the Principles and Procedures For The
Development And Adoption Of Tripartite Standards. He thanked officers from
the EAC for taking the lead in the development of this document which will
be validated in due course.
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1.5 Remarks from Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Programme
(COMPETE)
The representative of COMPETE, Mr. Isaac Tallam, thanked the EASC for
cooperation in the development of staple foods standards. He noted that 22
out of the targeted 23 standards were finalized through a process that
involved development of drafts, conducting national consultation workshops
for a wide cross-section of stakeholders, conducting a regional meeting of
experts and finally an editing session which finalized the draft standards. In
these efforts, other players such as AGRA,EAGC, ACTESAand SIDAwere
also involved.
Mr. Tallam noted that the EAC region suffers food security concerns and
lack of harmonized standards was hampering free movement of goods
especially staple foods. He reiterated that COMPETEwas ready to support in
the implementation ofthe standards by offering assistance in the production
oftraining manuals and publicity materials.
1.6 Remarks from Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in
Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
The representative of ASARECA noted that ASARECA was focused on
poverty alleviation through supporting productivity and trade in staple foods
particularly cassava and potatoes. He added that through collaboration with
National Standards Bureaux and the EAC secretariat 11 draft East African
Standards had been concluded in the past year. This year, the standard on
seed potato was concluded. A further 13 draft standards for cassava and
potato products had been developed and were now ready for circulation to
Partner States. ASARECAwas ready to cooperate with the EAC to develop
standards for seeds and propagation materials. ASARECAwas committed to
continue in the harmonization process and any additional activities that
would ensure that the promotion of standards helps in the fight against
poverty.
1.7 Remarks from African Electrotechnical Standards Committee (AFSEC)
and IECAffiliate
The representative of AFSECjIEC, Mrs. Evah Oduor, informed the meeting
that there was massive need for electrical standards in African where over
500 million people were yet to get access to electricity services. This was
demonstrated more clearly when the countries in the West African Power
Pool attempted to interconnect their electricity grids without first taking into
account the different standards used in their systems and the subsequent
failure ofthe exercise.
AFSEC was launched in 2008 as a subsidiary of the African Energy
Commission (AFRECjAU) by electricity producers, equipment
manufacturers and regulators in Africa. It is hosted by ESKOM of South
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Africa. Kenya was a founder member and Rwanda joined In 2010. Other
East African countries were encouraged tojoin AFSEC.
Apresentation detailing the activities ofAFSECis attached as Annex II.
IEC Affiliate programme for Africa
The Africa IEC affiliate programme coordinator informed the Committee that
the programme was designed to assist African Affiliates in using the Affiliate
Country Programme to its full extent including the following:
• Benefit from IEC IS and adopt relevant ones as national standards
• Participate in the preparation of IEC IS by commenting on IEC
documents
• Make use of IEC conformity assessment systems
• Establish national electrotechnical committees (NECs)
Apresentation detailing the activities ofIEC affiliate programme is attached
as Annex III.
1.8 Remarks from TradeMark East Africa (TMEA)
The representative ofTradeMark East Africa reported that TMEAworks with
institutions of government, private sector and civil society to support their
respective trade facilitation programmes. TMEA had submitted a proposal
for consideration by the EACSecretariat.
1.9 Remarks from EABC
The Executive Director of EABC, Agatha Nderitu, thanked the EAC
Secretariat for inviting EABCto the meeting. She informed the meeting that
the private sector had established a regional standards platform to provide a
supportive technical linkage between the private sector and the public
technical regulatory and standardization institutions.
2. ADOPTIONOF THE AGENDA
The agenda adopted is hereto attached as Annex IV.
3. CONSIDERATIONOF MATTERSARISINGFROMTHE REPORT OF THE
14TH EASC MEETING
3.1 Reconstitution of the EASC to reflect the requirement of the SQMTAct
The Secretariat reported that though this exercise was commissioned in the
13th meeting of the EASC, there were new developments which needed to be
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taken into account. The meeting was informed that the 22nd meeting of
Council of Ministers received proposals to expand the membership of the
Committee to include other members from sectors which handle SPS
standards and measures, technical regulations and conformity assessment
procedures. This was considered necessary in order to streamline the
manner in which these aspects of the quality infrastructure was being
handled in the Community and to provide an anchoring for technical
activities which currently could not be placed within any organs of the
Community.
In this regard, the Council made the decision as follows:
The Council approved the expansion on the membership of the
current EAC Standards Committee to include other standards
setting bodies especially those involved in developing SPS
standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment
procedures. (EAC/CM/22/Decision 47)
The Secretariat further noted that while the Committee had established a
subcommittee on technical regulations, there was need for the Committee to
establish a Technical Sub-Committee on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary
Measures in order to perform the functions that are not currently being
addressed.
Recommendation
The reconstitution of the EASCwas deferred to take into account the
Council Decision and the Secretariat was requested to keep the
Committee updated.
3.2 Recruitment of a Standards Officer to strengthen the SQMTOffice at
the EACSecretariat
The Secretariat reported that Council had approved the restructuring of the
Secretariat to include creation of more positions in the EAC SQMToffice. It
was noted that due to the complexity of recruitment in the Secretariat, and
given that SQMT work is increasing over time, the Secretariat should
consider engaging short-term services of technical officers of NSBs to carry
out specific tasks for the Secretariat. Such tasks could be performed by the
officers without necessarily travelling to the EACSecretariat. The Secretariat
indicated that currently, there was need to:
i) Reviewstandards
ii) Reviewthe EASCatalogue
iii)Finalize the Procedures for Development of East African Standards
iv)Effect the depository function
The Secretariat reported that they had secured USD 15 000 from RISPand
intended to commence the above activities between June and December
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2011. The Chief Executives were to be contacted in order to release
identified officers to perform the activities.
Recommendations
a) The EASC to prepare and submit a special request to Council
seeking additional staff to support the Secretariat's SQMT
activities.
b) The Secretariat to inform the Partner States of any challenges
experienced for timely implementation of SQMTactivities.
3.3 Strengthening of the College of Business Education into centre of
excellence for training in Metrology
The meeting took note that the Council of Ministers had approved the
Criteria for the Establishment and Location of Centres of Excellence which
requires that an Institution interested to become a Centre of Excellence
applies through the respective Ministry responsible for EAC affairs in
Partner States to EACSecretariat and then the application is considered.
Recommendation
CBE was requested to apply for recognition through the Ministry of
East African Affairs Tanzania using the established criteria.
3.4 TMBMeeting
The meeting was informed that the 1st meeting of the TMB took place in
Kigaliin September 2010.
The report ofthe meeting was considered under agenda item 7.0.
3.5 Gazettes notices
The meeting noted that EACGazettes were now available on the www.eac.int
and www.eac-quality.net websites and in the Partner States.
3.6 Positioning of EACinfrastructure to meet the requirements of full
fledged Customs Union and Common Market
The EACSecretariat reported that it was always ready and willing to support
the development of instruments supporting this aspect of the SQMT
infrastructure.
3.7 Consideration of the draft regulations to operationalise the EACSQMT
Act, 2006
The meeting noted the Draft Regulations had been submitted to the Sectoral
Council.
3.8 Workshop and study on standard for used vehicles
The Secretariat reported that it did not carry out these activities since it was
not able to raise funds owing to budgetary constraints. EABCnoted that this
matter affects the business community and other stakeholders. EABC
offered to collaborate with the EAC Secretariat in order to have the
workshop take place.
TMEAindicated that they could discuss this matter with the Secretariat and
seek possibilities ofoffering support.
Recommendation
The Secretariat was urged to approach EABCto host the workshop.
3.9 Standards of interest for EAC,COMESAand SADC
This was discussed under Agenda Item 5.0
3.10 Establishment of inter-linkages with other sectors of EAC
The Committee noted that the inter-linkages with other Sectors of EAC
mainly affect the activities of the East African Standards Technical Sub-
Committee (EASTSC).
Recommendation
The meeting directed EASTCto prepare a detailed proposal and forward
it to EACSecretariat for transmission to Council by August 2011.
3.11 EACWeb-Portal
The EACSecretariat reported that the www.eac.int and the www.eac-
quality.net websites are currently active in dissemination of standards
related information.
3.12 Review of Procedures for Development of East African Standards
It was reported that the EAC Secretariat with the assistance of PTB
convened a meeting of experts from 10th to 12th May 2011 in Arusha to
deliberate on the Procedures for harmonization of East African Standards
but the work was not concluded.
It was agreed that the Secretariat will convene a three day meeting to finalize
the Procedures.
The meeting accepted the offer by Rwanda to host the meeting in Kigalifrom
27th - 29th July 2011.
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The meeting recommended as follows:
a) The Secretariat convenes another meeting to finalize the
Procedures.
b) The facilitation and sponsorship of the delegates to the meeting
be co-shared between the EACSecretariat and the Partner States.
4. CONSIDERATIONANDAPPROVALOF METROLOGYBILL
The Secretariat reported that in its meeting in June 2010, the Sectoral
Council directed the Secretariat to subject the Draft Metrology Bill to
National Consultations and consolidate the national comments into the Bill.
The Secretariat convened National Consultative Meetings to collect National
views in the 5 Partner States i.e. the Republic of Kenya, the United Republic
of Tanzania, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Rwanda and the
Republic of Uganda during the period of October 2010. Ajoint meeting of
experts was convened at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Board
Room in Kampala, Uganda from the 7th_11th February 2011 to consolidate
National positions.
Recommendation
The EASC recommends to the Sectoral Council to approve the Draft
Metrology Bill. The Draft Metrology Bill is hereto attached Annex V.
5.0 Consideration of the progress made on development of Draft tripartite
Free Trade Area Agreement specifically SQMTand SPS matters
The meeting noted that the need to have a Tripartite Free Trade Area was
expressed by the Tripartite Summit communique of Kampala on 22nd
October 2008. The three Secretariats of EAC,COMESAand SADChad since
carried out work towards achieving the objectives of the Tripartite FTA.The
work carried out will be considered during the Tripartite Summit due in
June 2011 in Pretoria South Africa to consider progress and give guidance
on the way forward.
The Committee took note of the development on the Tripartite FTA.
6. CONSIDERATIONOF THE ANNUALREPORTS OF THE EAST AFRICAN
TECHNICALSUB-COMMITTEE
The EASC received and adopted the reports of the four Technical Sub-
Committees outlining the various activities that had been undertaken and
proposed new work programme. The EASC thanked Development Partners
for the continued support in the activities of standardization that has
enabled progress in SQMTactivities within the Community.
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