WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/272
27 July 2001
(01-3762)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
SADC CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON SPS/FOOD SAFETY ISSUES
Declarations of the Windhoek Workshop on SPS/Food Safety
20-22 November 2000
Preamble
1. As a follow-up to the High Level Consultation held in Harare from 4-6 September 2000, the
SADC Consultative Forum on SPS/Food Safety convened a Workshop on Sanitary, Phytosanitary(SPS) and Food Safety Issues in Windhoek, Namibia from 20-22 November 2000 to deliberate on
specific actions steps for harmonizing SPS measures in support of the implementation of the SADC
Trade Protocol.  The Workshop, which brought together more than 100 participants from 12 SADC
Member States
1, Sector Coordinating Units, Bureaus of Standards, and the private sector, was jointly
organized by the SADC Food Agriculture and Na tural Resources Sector Development Unit (FANR
SDU) and the Trade Sector Coordinating Unit (SIT CD) and was facilitated by the Food Security and
Rural Development Hub.  The workshop was attended by resource persons from the WTO, IPPC,
OIE, Codex Alimentarius, FAO, WHO, UNCTAD, USDA, USAID and the World Bank, as well as
regional SADC trade experts.
2. The SADC Consultative Forum on SPS/Food Safety extends its thanks and appreciation to all
participants, resource persons and donor institutions for their kind support and particularly to the
Government of the Republic of Namibia for host ing this workshop and the USAID/Regional Center
for Southern Africa for its financial and logistical support.
3. The summary finding, conclusions and recommendations of the Windhoek Workshop are
contained in this report.  They provide a background and context to the Workshop, the objectives,
organization and structure and key findings regarding institutional arrangements, legal and regulatory
framework, technical and human resource capacity, the roles of government and the private sector inthe harmonization of SPS and food safety, and ends with proposals on the way forward.  The purpose
is to provide a clear path on the organization of future work on harmonization of SPS and food safety
matters as these relate to trade in agriculture and agro-related products in the implementation of the
SADC Trade Protocol.  This is a priority se t by the SADC Council given the importance of
agriculture trade to the Member States and the broader objectives of regional integration premised ontrade.
                                                     
1 Two SADC Member States, Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), did not attend
the Windhoek Workshop on SPS/Food Safety; both Seychelles and the DRC are yet to sign the SADC Trade
Protocol which became implementation effective on 1 September 2000.G/SPS/GEN/272
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Background to the Windhoek Workshop
4. The trade liberalization objectives of SADC Member States are enshrined in the Protocol on
Trade that entered into application on 1 September 2000.  The coming into implementation of the
Trade Protocol underscores the urgent need for Member States to harmonize SPS measures requiredfor increased trade in agriculture and agro-related products and for development of improved food
safety standards.  While SADC has made substantial efforts in recent years in setting standards of
trade in non-agricultural products, especially ma nufactured goods and textiles, standards and grades
required for trade in agricultural commodities need  to be put into place to guide both intra-SADC
and/or external trade in agriculture for the economic benefits of a wide range of regional stakeholders,
especially smallholders who depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
Importance of Increased SADC Trade in Agriculture
5. Trade in agriculture and agro-related (processed) products is an important cornerstone of
economic growth in the SADC region given the broa d range of participants involved and the under-
exploited nature and potential of this sector.  More than 70 per cent of the nearly 200 million people
in the SADC region depend on agriculture as a source of livelihood.  In many countries, agriculturecontributes at least 25 per cent of GDP and employs nearly 60 per cent of workers.  Agricultural
exports contribute significantly to foreign exchange earnings and agriculture is the sector that
provides critically needed raw material for local industries.  Trade in agriculture would therefore
provide an important vehicle for accelerating economic growth that would have a broader impact on
the economic wellbeing of citizens, especially smallholders who are currently outside of mainstreammarkets.  Unfortunately, trade in agriculture is hampered by the absence of adequate rules and
standards governing exchange.  Given the specific  characteristics of trade in plant and animal
products, measures need to be put into place to control the proliferation of related diseases and pests
that, if left unchecked, could possibly adversely affect the economies of other countries.  At the same
time, these measures should not hamper intra-regional trade that, as international evidence suggests, isa necessary precursor to increased economic growth.  Effective trade in agriculture therefore requires
rules and procedures on the harmonization or mutual recognition of products, standards, grades and
quality.
6. With globalization and increased trade both within SADC and with the outside world, issues
of food safety have also taken on renewed prominence.  In many developing countries, a major cause
of child mortality is unsafe food caused by poor sanitation and lack of clean water.  Food safety issues
are not only of importance for the consumers of the developed nations, where SADC products aresent, but also for exporters of SADC Member States who are required to meet quality and safety
standards in a more competitive global marketplace.  Within SADC itself, food safety is now clearly a
critical factor in domestic nutrition and health of the citizens of Member States.  Given the limited
resources and low technology base of some SADC Member States, special efforts must be made to
guarantee and certify the safety of export products, in an efficient manner, while ensuring that foodproducts available for the consumption of citizens of the Member States also meet improved safety
standards.
Constraints to Accelerated Trade in Agriculture
7. The SADC Trade Protocol specifies that Member States shall base SPS measures on science,
in accordance with the WTO Agreement.  They should also harmonize such measures, so that food
safety and SPS concerns are mitigated for the implementation of the Protocol.  However, there is little
information on the extent to which individual Member States are in compliance with international
standards or whether the steps that must be taken to meet these standards have been taken.  In many
countries, these efforts are hampered by technological and capacity constraints, the lack of clearG/SPS/GEN/272
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information and data for undertaking such assessments and monitoring their outcomes, and the lack of
trained staff and modern laboratories to scientifically confirm compliance with required standards.
Urgent actions are therefore needed to address these constraints in order to facilitate regional trade in
agriculture.
Objectives of the Windhoek Workshop
8. The SADC Workshop on SPS/Food Safety was organized to raise awareness of public
officials, standard bodies, exporters and the private sector on the importance of harmonizing SPS and
food safety standards in support of the implementation of the Trade Protocol.  Its purpose was to
promote greater intellectual exchange between Member States, as well as to ensure that public and
private sector entities undertake informed discussions on the practical aspects of SPS constraints, to
examine how they impede commercial exchange between states and to propose practical steps to dealwith these problems.  Practical steps would entail how representatives of the Member States and the
private sector propose to organize themselves, the areas they consider as priorities for intervention,
and the specific constraints within their powers to deal with immediately.  Other specific objectives
were to:  (a) within the framework of the SADC Tr ade Protocol, discuss key constraints to increased
intra-SADC and external SADC trade in agricultur al products;  (b) synthesize the institutional,
regulatory and technological capacity constraints at the level of the Member States that impede
increase trade;  and (c) develop a clear set of activities and action steps for addressing these
constraints in support of increased regional trade.
Organization of the Workshop9. The Workshop was organized into three integrated sessions, structured to ensure maximum
participation and exchange between a wide range of stakeholders (government officials,
representatives of standard bureaus, private agents and external resource persons).  The first session
focused on the general background and context of the Workshop, providing, for the regional
participants, the status of current work on SPS and food safety matters of interests to the MemberStates.  During this session, brief presentations were made by officials of IPPC, Codex Alimentarius,
WTO, WHO, OIE, UNCTAD and the World Bank to the SADC participants to provide the current
state of knowledge in these areas.
10. The second session consisted of presentations of National Issues Papers prepared by the
Member States.  Due to time constraints, however, presentations were limited to six countries (South
Africa, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe);  Issues Papers not presented in the
plenary session were distributed to workshop participants.  The Issues Papers provided in-depthinformation on current status of SPS and food safety work in the Member States, including status of
applicable legislation, institutional arrangements, and the available technological capacity of the
Member States to deal with these problems.  These presentations also included recent experiences of
Member States in dealing with specific sanitary and phytosanitary matters, such as the outbreak of
foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the Kwa zulu-Natal Province of South Africa.
11. The third session consisted of breakout groups on Crops, Livestock/Fisheries and Food
Safety.  In these special sessions, the groups brainstormed on the key constraints (policy, institutional,
technical, etc.) and specific steps that could be taken to address them.  They also discussed the
respective roles of government and the private sector and prepared a prioritized list of activities that
could be undertaken by the Member States and with the help of donor institutions.G/SPS/GEN/272
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Quality of Deliberations
12. In general, the SADC SPS/Food Safety Workshop was organized to deal with a practical
problems and involved the frank and cordial exchange between a wide range of participants –
government, regulatory and standard bodies, exporters and private sector groups – on practical stepsneeded to harmonize sanitary,  phytosanitary and food safety measures.  These deliberations were
facilitated by a team of external and regional resource persons.  Workshop participants were pleased
with the richness of the discussions, the quality of the information generated, and the opportunity to
interact and share experiences with other stakeholder groups.  Participants also appreciated the role
played by the external resource persons, especia lly in providing timely expert inputs during the
discussions, based on a wealth of international experiences.  The Issues Papers prepared by the
Member States provided a valuable information platform for transitioning to the group sessions and indeveloping specific proposals for a future work programme .  The group sessions were well attended
and discussions were often lively and objectives.  In these groups, participants more clearly discern
between those proposals which could be addre ssed immediately by the SADC Member States
themselves and those which would require external technical and financial support to accomplish.
Key Findings of the Workshop
13. The key findings and recommendations of the workshop are as follows:  (a) there is need for
clear institutional arrangements at both the regional and national levels to deal with sanitary and
phytosanitary issues and food safety matters in order to move more expeditiously in the
implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol which specific regard to agricultural trade;  (b) in orderto move the regional trade agenda forward, closer coordination is needed both amongst the various
agencies and players within the Member States as well as between the states;  (c) Member States are
hampered by an outdated legal and regulatory framework on SPS and food safety, some laws and
regulations dating as far back as the colonial era.  These outdated rules and regulations are inadequate
to deal with current international standards and requirements;  (d) Member States often lack theappropriate technical and human resource capacity to deal with complex issues of SPS and food
safety, to assess related risks, and to monitor policies and their outcomes;  and (e) there is a need to
clarify the roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholders in both the public and private sectors in
the implementation of proposed SPS and food safety measures.
14. The policy implications of these findings and recommendations are discussed in detail below.
15. Institutional Arrangements .  Workshop participants noted the need for an appropriate
institutional arrangement to accelerate the harmonization of SPS and food safety work in support ofthe implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol.  Whilst the High-Level Meeting held in Harare (4-
6 September 2000) set up an intra-sectoral Consultative Forum on SPS/TBT, this group was seen as
essentially a catalyst for initiating the process.  However, the workshop participants concurred that the
development of a protocol on SPS/Food Safety would require a more technically-orientated group.  It
was recognized in bilateral consultations with the SITCD that during the development of a protocol onSPS, an approach similar to that adopted for other specialty areas (notably sugar) would be more
appropriate than a Consultative Forum.  Based on previous experience, and the technical nature of
SPS and food safety issues, a SADC Technical Committee on SPS/Food Safety, chaired by FANR
was therefore proposed.  The Technical Committee would comprise representatives of health
authorities, FANR Coordinating Units, the private sector, and standard bodies, and would workexpeditiously on sanitary and phytosanitary and food safety matters.  It would make it
recommendations and findings to the SITCD, which has a regional mandate for trade.  The findings of
the Technical Committee would be sent to the Trade Negotiating Forum and a joint Committee of
Ministers of Agriculture, Trade and Health, as ap propriate, via the SITCD.  The Technical Committee
would also take the lead on the development of a protocol on SPS and Food Safety.  The structure,G/SPS/GEN/272
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composition, and reporting requirements of the SADC Committee on SPS/Food Safety is detailed in
Annex I.
16. Coordination within Member States .  Participants noted the diffusion of responsibilities on
SPS and food safety matters within the Member States, often with little or no collaboration between
the various agencies concerned.  While many SADC Member States are members of the internationalbodies, WTO and Codex, and therefore have national nodes and Enquiry Points for these two bodies,
these nodes were pronounced by the participants from the Member States as generally inactive, and of
serving only as depositories of documents.  Information received from WTO institutions was often not
distributed to concerned agencies in a timely manner.  Many nodes lack clear terms of reference, and
were often inadequately staffed or supported.
17. Coordination between Member States on SPS Matters .  The participants noted that a key
constraint was the inability to share information promptly between the Member States, especially in
the case of the outbreak of diseases and pests.  The lack of an effective mechanism for information
sharing often leads to a communication breakdown during crises, a time when such information
exchange is critical.  In many instances, the appropriate mechanism needed to facilitate timely
exchange of relevant information between the concerned parties was often lacking altogether.  Even
when a mechanism was in place, data was either sparse or unreliable for policymaking.  Additionally,states often lack the capacity to analyze the available data to provide proper guidance to decision-
makers on the issues at stake.  The issue of information development, analysis and dissemination was
therefore seen as one area where a regional role would be more appropriate in support of the Member
States given the economies of scale associated with generating and disseminating such data at the
regional level.
18. Also, other areas of poor coordination included the following:  (a) ineffective border controls;
(b) lack of regional equivalence;  (c) inadequate conformity assessment infrastructure;  and (d) the
lack of industry self-regulation, en abled by public institutions.  In this context, the workshop noted the
need for multilateral (as opposed to bilatera l) agreements to standardize procedures and
documentation and to ensure proper accreditation certification.  The need for more effectivecoordination between exporters and border control authorities were therefore stressed, with emphasis
to be placed on appropriate training for port regulators and inspectors, improved customs
infrastructure, including upgrading of information infrastructure between the various custom points.
19. Legal and Regulatory Framework .  Participants noted that legislation related to sanitary,
phytosanitary and food safety matters is outdated in many of the Member States.  This requires urgent
action if measures are to be harmonized.  In many  countries, existing legislation does not conform to
the requirements of the WTO and are far behind modern international standards.  There is also thelack of national policies on standards and practices, and between Member States, these are manifested
by the absence of a common framework of practices, standards and grades governing trade in
agricultural products.  In this context, participants acknowledged the urgency of reviewing existing
regulations and legislation as they relate to SPS and food safety broadly across the SADC Member
States.  This stocktaking would form the basis for specific policy reforms that would help toharmonize legislation across states on standards and requirements governing trade in agriculture and
agro-related products.  Such reviews and updates would focus on the extent to which the existing
framework deviates from acceptable international standards of the WTO (in the case of general trade)
and Codex (in the case of food safety) and would provide the basis for recommendations for filling in
this gap.
20. Lack of Technical and HR Capacity .  In many countries, poor technical capacity to deal with
issues of SPS and food safety is a major constraint.  These constraints are often manifested by poor
laboratory conditions, outmoded scientific equipment for testing and verifying compliance, improper
capacity for collection, storage and retrieval of information, inadequately trained staff, lack ofG/SPS/GEN/272
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capacity for proper data collection or undertaking of robust assessments of related risks.  There is
often a paucity of data for proper analyses, and even where the data may exist, staff does not often
have the required training to properly analyze them.  Capacity amongst the Member States is
unevenly distributed, with some countries having very modern facilities while others lack basic ones.
This situation further encourages the need to look for a more cost-effective and sensible approach toaddressing this problem.  Participants therefore felt that it would not be economical to replicate
advanced laboratories in all Member States, but to  move to a situation whereby existing laboratories
in some countries could be upgraded into regional centers of excellence.  These facilities could be
shared by several states as a more cost-effective and sustainable arrangement to deal with the problem
of poor laboratory facilities.
21. Roles and Responsibilities .  There was clear consensus that work on SPS and food safety was
not the sole domain of public sector agencies.  This is particularly true in the formulation of standards
and grades.  In countries where a vibrant private sector exists, the experience has been that grades and
standards are often initially developed by trade associations, and then simply endorsed into
appropriate legislation by the state.  In this respect, participants underscored the need for clear
delineation of roles and responsibilities between governments and the private sector on matters of
sanitary and phytosanitary measures and food safety.  The role of government is basically seen as thatof a facilitator of the process, and also, of a guarantor of an even playing field for all actors.  This is
particularly true as private sector agents generally undertake trade.  In this context, it was noted that
private sector actors be appropriately strengthe ned to play a more proactive role in the development
and monitoring of SPS and food safety standards.
The Way Forward
22. With the understanding that work on SPS and food safety must be based on clear priorities
which, when addressed, can lead to a multiplier effect in other areas and institutions, the Workshop
agreed on the following steps:
(a) Focus on Those Things That Can be Done Immediately by SADC .  The steps in the
process of identifying priority areas shou ld be as follows:  (i) identifying and
cataloguing of the national inquiry points;  (ii) re-activating these to be more
proactive in the dissemination of informatio n within each country;  (iii) collating and
disseminating information (names, addresses, telephone, faxes, email, etc.) of all
national Enquiry Points to all relevant agencies and private sector groups within the
country and also, to all other Member States;  (iv) assessing the incremental
requirements needed to make the nodes functional and providing these;  and (v)where the problem relates to misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities,
developing clear terms of reference for these national Enquiry Points.
(b) Take Immediate Stock .  There is an urgent need to take stock of the key sanitary and
phytosanitary and food safety issues in each of the Member States, using the Issues
Papers prepared by the country as the starting point.  The stocktaking would coverinstitutional arrangements, legal and regulatory frameworks, detailed description of
capacity problems, the extent of the country deviation from internationally acceptable
standards and would end with a clear set of action steps for addressing these
constraints.  The first step in this process of stock taking is to develop the terms of
reference for this national assessment, recruit consultants and initiate the study.  Thestudy teams will comprise both international and regional SADC experts.  Support
from external donors would be essential.  The findings of the national-level
assessments will further define specific areas of donor support.G/SPS/GEN/272
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(c) Develop a Regional Platform for Information Generation and Exchange on SPS/Food
Safety Participants noted that there was no mechanism for the exchange of technical
information on SPS and food safety on a regular basis.  Even within countries,
information available within one agency could not be shared or accessed by others,
and the problem was even more compounded between countries.  Also, it was notedthat it would be more cost-effective to have such information available at the regional
level where it could be shared by all.  It is therefore important to develop a regional
information network involving a website and regular publications on SPS/Food
Safety that would be distributed to the Member States.  This website would cover all
14 SADC Member States and would co mprise technical, policy and current
information.  It would serve as a point of reference by all national Enquiry Points and
the private sector groups.  The website and subsidiary publications would be hostedby the FANR SDU.
(d) Accelerate Work on the Development of a SADC Protocol on SPS/Food Safety .  On a
parallel track, efforts should accelerate to develop a protocol on SPS/Food Safety for
consideration by the Member States.  The work on protocol development will benefit
from and will complement the stocktaking exercise at the level of the individualMember States.  A team of regional and international consultants will be recruited to
begin work on this shortly, under the leadership of the FANR SDU.G/SPS/GEN/272
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Annex I
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
PROPOSED INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT – REGIONAL WORK ON SPS
AND FOOD SAFETY
SADC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
SENIOR OFFICIALS
JOINT COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS OF TRADE, HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE
TRADE NEGOTIATING FORUM (TNF)
SITCD
REGIONAL SPS/FOOD SAFETY COMMITTEE  (Chair- FANR)
- Animal health
- Plant health
- FANR Sector Coordinator
- Food Safety and Public Health
- Laboratory Technical Services
- Trade/Legal Experts
- SQAM
- Private Sector Representatives
- Technical Support :  Multidonor Hub
NATIONAL SPS/FOOD SAFETY COMMITTEE
- FANR Focal Points
- Representatives of Health, Trade & Agriculture
Ministries
- National Standard Office
- WTO Entry Point
- Private Sector
- (Linked to National Trade Working Group)
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