Mombasa: The African Organisation for Standardization (ARSO) is making strides in harmonizing standards across Africa to enhance intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and promote industrialization and sustainable development across the continent.

According to Kenya News Agency, during the 73rd ARSO Council and 16th Champions Meeting in Mombasa, hosted by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), ARSO President and Botswana Bureau of Standards Managing Director, Botsile Kebapetse, highlighted the importance of collaboration among member states to address Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs), which continue to impede the goals of AfCFTA.

The five-day meeting, themed ‘Accelerating Fair and Just Trade in Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Area through an African Coherent Regulatory Framework and Harmonised standards’, focused on the necessity for African nations to trade more amongst themselves rather than predominantly with other continents. AfCFTA has been signed by 54 African countries and ratified by 48, with 38 being members of ARSO.

Kebapetse emphasized the need for Africa to enjoy its own resources through facilitated intra-African trade, achievable through the harmonization of standards to reduce TBTs. He called on member states to ensure the establishment of quality infrastructure, mutual recognition arrangements, and harmonized conformity assessment procedures.

To date, 2440 standards have been harmonized within 15 priority sectors, which account for 25 percent of AfCFTA trade tariffs. ARSO President stressed the global significance of harmonized standards, aiding companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, to compete on a level playing field in global markets.

KEBS Managing Director, Esther Ngari, noted the importance of the forum for member states to align AfCFTA implementation with harmonized standards, thereby eliminating trade barriers. ARSO Secretary General, Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana, mentioned that harmonization has already been implemented in various sectors such as agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.

Dr. Nsengimana also highlighted the introduction of a continental quality mark, allowing products conforming to harmonized standards to be sold across Africa without additional testing.