NEWS
11
African standards for Africa –
regional harmonisation
Several African standardisation bodies convened in
Cape Town to discuss how standards can support
the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement
(AfCFTA) which will be implemented in 2020.
This meeting was a bi-lateral meeting on the occasion of
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) week
from 16-20 September 2019.
Most African standards bodies are member of the
African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO), which
established itself in 1977 to develop tools for standards
development and regional harmonisation to enhance Africa’s
internal trading capacity, increase product and service
competitiveness globally, and uplift of the welfare of African
consumers. This was first meeting of African standards
bodies outside of an ARSO engagement.
The agreement establishing AfCFTA has resulted in the
biggest trade agreement since the World Trade Organisation
was established in 1994. It is expected that with the reduced
barriers to trade, the growth in intra-Africa trade, of an
estimated USD2-trillion, will be traded internally – within the
next year.
• the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC),
• Intra-Africa Metrology System (AFRIMETS),
• African Electro technical Standardisation commission
(AFSEC)
• African Union Commission (AUC)
“The development and harmonisation of African standards
and best practices must serve the needs of African member
countries and that of the region. The harmonisation of
technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment
procedures, enforcement protocols and a dispute settlement
process, all need to support the African free trade agreement.
African standards bodies have an important role to play
in developing their nations to become active and inclusive
members of this new regional market, through the promotion
of standards to ensure that maximum benefits can be derived,”
says Hermogène Nsengimana, secretary general of ARSO.
Several technical infrastructure organisations in Africa,
in addition to ARSO will contribute to the development
of standardisation, conformity assessments and quality
assurance, such as:
• The Pan-African Quality Infrastructure (PAQI),
November 2019 Volume 25 I Number 9
“Standards bodies across the region need to collaboratively
develop common systems and standards that sustainably
support social, economic, trade and industrial integration.
For South Africa, the benefits of enhanced access to
regional markets could significantly boost our economy,
ignite industrialisation and foster regional harmony. The
opportunities for capacity building, job creation, sharing
of resources and technologies could be the elixir for our
economic woes,” says Garth Strachan, Acting CEO of the
South African Bureau of standards.
Africa is currently the second-largest export destination for
South Africa, topped by Asia. South Africa exported 26.2%
of its products into Africa in 2017, while importing only
9.9%. AfCFTA is expected to expand and diversify export
destinations within the region. PA
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