Priority Agricultural Policies and Standards to Advance Agricultural Trade and Access to Inputs Regional Feed the Future and Trade Africa Meeting April, 2016 Arusha, Tanzania David Wafula EAC Secretariat

% Contribution of Agriculture to GDP in EAC Partner States EAC is an agricultural economy. About 80% of the region’s population lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture for their livelihoods

EAC LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ON STANDARDS EAC Secretariat Standards Unit- under Trade &Customs EAC SQMT Act deals with Standardization, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing of goods and services produced and traded in the community East African Standards Committee main body for Standards development OBJECTIVES Protect and improve the health and safety of consumers and the public. Protect the environment and reduce waste. Enhance consumer confidence and limit exploitation by increasing products and processes confirming to established standards.

PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT AND HARMONIZATION OF EAC STAPLE FOODS STANDARDS 18 standards harmonized in 2012 and adopted in 2013 as required in the SQMT Act

The Need to Review the Standards Some implementation guidelines were developed but could not be used since some gaps were identified in the parameters set and inconsistencies in the testing and inspection The first review meeting held in Mombasa Feb especially on quality and safety parameters like grading, moisture and aflatoxin among others Another meeting was held in Entebbe in March 2016 to address conformity assessment concerns such as Proficiency Testing for the cereals and pulses and harmonizing the sampling and test methods with those used by the industry under GAFTA Guidelines for sampling (grading) and testing to be developed

SEED HARMONIZATION IN THE EAC Envisaged Benefits of Harmonization In each Partner State, the seed industry is organized and managed under different policy and regulatory regimes. -Hindering movement of seeds across the borders and limiting farmers access to improved varieties Harmonization-improved the delivery of improved varieties and seeds across region thereby contributing to improving agricultural transformation, intra-regional trade, reduced transactions costs and farmers access to quality seeds.

EAC Treaty Provisions EAC Treaty - Article 106 Calls for a) Harmonization of quarantine policies, legislation and regulations to ease trade in seeds In April the 8 th Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food Security directed that harmonization of seed legislation and regulatory frameworks be accelerated Work on harmonization initiated taking into consideration provisions of the EAC Treaty and progress made by ASARECA/COMESA.

HARMONIZATION IN THE AREA OF FERTILIZERS EAC Harmonized Regulatory Framework & Procedures for Fertilizer Market 1. Fertilizer taxation- regimes vary across the region and therefore need to harmonized 2. Registration of fertilizers, importers and distributers 3. Institutional Governance - only URT has a regulatory body. 4. Fertilizer Standards and Procedures- Fertilizer standards and registration procedures vary across the different Partner States; disrupt fertilizer trade 5. Infrastructure development- identification and strengthening of some existing national laboratories for fertilizers analysis. 6. Long term strategic development issues – possibilities of bulk procurement and fertilizer manufacture in the region 7. Fertilizer blending and promotion of bio-fertilizers

In December 2015, a comprehensive framework to guide development of a harmonized Seed Legislation and Regulatory Framework was developed. The prioritized areas in the framework are: (a) Harmonization of variety evaluation, release procedures and registration protocols in the region (b) Harmonization of seed certification; (c) Harmonization of phytosanitary measures including import and export documentation (d) Prevention of spread of pests of quarantine and non quarantine importance ; and (e) Harmonization of plant variety protection systems Next steps- drafting of the framework and validation

Progress Towards Harmonized Biosafety Regime Biotechnology and Biosafety matters at EAC coordinated by the department of Environment and Natural Resources MANDATE- Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Chapter 3, Article 27(1).” The partner states shall develop and adopt Common policies, laws and take measures to ensure that the development, handling, transport, use, transfer and release of any living modified organisms are undertaken in a manner that prevents or reduces the risks to environment, natural resources and human health”.

Sectoral Council on Environment and Natural Resources held in 2013 in Kigali Directed the EAC Secretariat to organize National and Regional Multi-Sectoral Consultations of relevant sectors to consider matters related to biosafety and GMOs National biosafety Consultations held in September & October 2013 Regional biosafety consultations held in November 2013 identified priorities to guide the development of a regional biotechnology and biosafety framework

Broad Regional Priorities Identified 1. Establishment of a regional BBU at the EAC to support dev, of biosafety policy framework process 2. Formulation of a harmonized regional biotechnology and biosafety policy to inform decision making on GMOs (RA& RM, research, release and transboundary movements of GMOs in trade and food aid) 3. Need for mechanisms for resource mobilization to support capacity building-human, infrastructure and institutional 4. Strategies for public education, participation, awareness in biotechnology and biosafety Drafting of a policy framework at an advanced stage The framework will be subjected to a rigorous validation process prior to adoption

13 For more information: www One People…One Destiny.eac.int Thank you.