Regional quality standards for food staples in Africa : harmonization not always appropriate : Normes de qualité régionales pour les denrées alimentaires en Afrique : L'harmonisation n'est pas toujours appropriée (Francês)

One approach to improve the trade environment for food staples that has gained considerable momentum and widespread support in recent years has been to harmonize quality standards across countries and with international ones. Various policy papers on ...  Exibir mais + One approach to improve the trade environment for food staples that has gained considerable momentum and widespread support in recent years has been to harmonize quality standards across countries and with international ones. Various policy papers on commodity trade in Africa have pointed to the lack of consistency in quality requirements as a non-tariff barrier and called for the harmonization of standards as a prerequisite for improved trade. The East African Community (EAC) has been especially active in pursuing harmonization with international standards in an effort to facilitate trade between member states and ensure global markets remain open to EAC exporters. Discussions are now underway aimed at extending harmonized standards to Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as part of an agreement to establish a tripartite free trade area between the three regional blocks. This note looks at the tradeoffs of different approaches to regional standards management. Despite a widespread perception that standards harmonization is required by the World Trade Organization-Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO SPS) Agreement, other trade facilitation instruments are allowed that can be easier to negotiate and have more immediate benefit to African countries. Standards harmonization can also be pursued in a variety of ways.  Exibir menos -

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