Eleventh Session of the UNIDO General Conference Trade Capacity Building Presentation: “The UEMOA Experience” M.L. Dhaoui, Deputy Director PTC/ITP, UNIDO Vienna November 2005

Establishment of a UEMOA System for Accreditation, Standardization and Quality Promotion UEMOA Quality Programme (Phase 1 &Phase 2) November 2005 M.L. Dhaoui, Deputy Director PTC/ITP, UNIDO Vienna

Summary: Phase 1: Main Achievements of the UEMOA Quality Programme Objectives of the programme; Partners in the programme; Beneficiaries; Organizational structure; Main results achieved; Specific support; Impact of programme; Visibility and communication aspects;

Summary Continued : Phase 2: Overview Objectives Partners Components and Activities

Global objective : Promote regional integration and increase participation of UEMOA countries in international and regional trade. Through: The establishment of a regional system for accreditation and certification Strengthening of standards bodies and harmonisation of standards Promotion of quality and consumer protection

PARTNERS OF PROGRAMME: Funding agencies : European Union for a total of 14 million Euros (of which 12 millions under grant agreement with UNIDO) Main beneficiary : Western African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Implementing agency : United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)

Beneficiaries (regional et national): Laboratories :27.0 % UEMOA (regional structures) :24.0 % Governments (through assistance in accreditation and support to standards bodies) : 23.0 % Private sector : 19.0 % Consumer Associations : 4.0 % Inspection bodies :3.0 % Note: Estimates made on basis of initial budget

Programme Structure

ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGIONAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE Technical structures created by Regulation (July 2005): -West African Accreditation System, SOAC ( meant to be sole accreditation body in the region); partnership agreement signed between UEMOA Commission and the Comité Français d’Accréditation (French national accreditation body) to assist in the setting-up and operation of SOAC; -Regional Secretariat on Standardisation, Certification and Quality Promotion, NORMCERQ; this entity will be connected to the ISO intranet system for easy access to international standardisation work and servers are being installed to this effect; -Regional Secretariat on Metrology, SOAMET; this structure is responsible for metrology activities under an on-going cooperation project between the UEMOA Commission and PTB(Germany).

Component 1: Accreditation Support to conformity assessment bodies (24 laboratories being assisted to achieve accreditation) ; Laboratory equipment supplied to 46 laboratories for a total of 1.5 million Euros Networking of testing and metrology laboratories carried out (database on 150 laboratories has been created and is available on-line on the UEMOA website); Harmonisation of test methods for food products carried out to enable comparability of laboratory intercomparisons; Common criteria for operating product certification schemes defined.

COMPONENT 2 : ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGIONAL STANDARDISATION SYSTEM Creation and/or strengthening of national standards bodies Creation of NSB in Niger and Guinea-Bissau ; Strengthening of NSBs in Burkina Faso and Togo ; More than 500 draft standards in the process of adoption as regional standards; Access to documentation on standards and technical regulations improved; 8 documentation centres in NSBs provided with IT equipment and subscription to an international database on French and European standards effected.

COMPONENT 2 : ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGIONAL STANDARDISATION SYSTEM (continued) Assistance provided for definition of common position toward international bodies dealing with standards and technical regulations (ISO, CODEX, WTO etc.) National legislation regarding accreditation, certification, standardisation and quality promotion are being harmonised; Training, awareness building and information activities carried out for economic operators.

Specific actions regarding ISO : Adhesion of 8 member States of UEMOA to ISO; Participation of relevant NSBs at the GA of ISO and other technical meetings carried out; Access to ISO documents facilitated mainly through direct connection of NSBs to the ISO intranet site; Adoption of ISO standards as regional or national standards.

COMPONENT 3 : ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGIONAL SYSTEM FOR QUALITY PROMOTION Support and technical assistance to 70 enterprises for putting in place the ISO 9001quality system; Creation of a UEMOA Quality Award and 8 national quality awards; Strengthening of capacities of sectoral technology support centres; Awareness-building, information and organisation of quality days carried out at national level; Creation of pool of expertise at national and regional levels in the field of quality ( training of consultants, quality managers and quality auditors) to enhance support to enterprises.

Trainings carried out and total staff trained : 90 seminars and workshops at regional level have enabled 1600 professionals to be trained in various fields; Around 120 national seminars and workshops held and around 3000 technical cadres trained and sensitised to issues regarding quality; 132 national consultants and around 88 regional/international consultants have provided their input to various activities implemented to date.

Specific support to fisheries sector Training of industry personnel and cadres from regulatory authorities in the fisheries sector carried out in Togo and Benin; Technical assistance to laboratories toward accreditation and introduction of HACCP in fishery export enterprises in Togo and Benin; Purchase of laboratory equipment for histamine analysis in fisheries products in Côte d’Ivoire; Support to Guinea Bissau toward compliance with regulatory requirements; As a result of above, auto-suspension imposed for Benin for export of shrimps to the EU was lifted in February 2005.

Specific support to the cotton sector: 200 cadres and technical staff from the cotton sector in UEMOA (ginners, classifiers, trade specialists) trained on quality and classification of cotton fibre; Technical assistance to cotton/textile enterprises toward ISO 9001 certification and to laboratories toward accreditation; Purchase and installation of 2 high volume instruments for automated classification of cotton fibre in Mali and Togo; orders being processed for purchase of 2 additional equipment for Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire; Development of first-ever cotton standards of West African origin in cooperation with the African Cotton Association and the French Cotton Association.

Impact of Programme: Development and increase of fishery products exports to the EU ( more than families of fishermen concerned); Development of exports and notable increase in revenue from sale of cotton (around 10 million persons concerned); Consumers in UEMOA informed of their rights and better protected due to awareness building campaigns and forthcoming adoption of regional framework legislation on consumer protection; Enhanced regional integration and participation of UEMOA countries in international trade thanks to the establishment of SOAC and development of standardisation and quality promotion activities.

Visibility and communication around Programme: Organisation of national quality awards and quality days in the 8 member countries under the auspices of Presidents of State or Prime ministers; Organisation of national awareness campaigns on consumer protection in the 8 countries (both in the capital and in rural areas); Organisation on 30th September in Ouagadougou and on 27th October in Geneva of two events celebrating a special UEMOA quality day, with participation of UEMOA ministers of industry and ambassadors/head of missions respectively; Creation of two documentary films on the achievements of the Programme and the formulation of cotton standards respectively; Coverage of activities undertaken in the written press, radio and regional television networks ( 3 reports appeared on television TV-5 Afrique); in Cote d’Ivoire, 73 communications made public news in the various media.

Phase II: Objective Global Objective: –Strengthen regional economic integration and trade through quality support in West Africa

Phase II: Partners Donor Agency: European Union (EU) for a total of €15 Million (of which 14 millions under grant agreement with UNIDO) Implementing Agency: UNIDO Main Beneficiaries: –West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) –Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mauritania

Phase II: Components and Outputs Strengthen Inspection agencies & harmonize inspection practices Component 1: Consolidation of quality infrastructures in UEMOA countries Develop and upgrade regional and national Accreditation systems Strengthen regional and national Testing and Metrology capacities and harmonize testing methods in priority fields Establish and strengthen national and regional Certification capacities Promote and strengthen Quality initiatives and develop quality infrastructures Set-up a regional Metrology body and develop national and regional metrology capacities Set-up a regional Standardization body (NORMCERQ), strengthen national standardization bodies and promote access to and use of standards

Phase II: Components and Outputs Component 2: Upgrading & Development of Supply and Productive Capacities in UEMOA Countries Strengthen enterprises’ competitiveness at price, quality and productivity levels Support upgrading activities of enterprises and, thus, foster capacity building and meeting the regional integration and international competitiveness challenges

Phase II: Components and Outputs Develop regional and national Accreditation capacities & activities Upgrade and strengthen Testing and Metrology tools and capacities Establish national Certification schemes and develop certification capacities Set-up a regional Standardization scheme and strengthen national standardization bodies and promote access to and use of standards Strengthen Inspection agencies and harmonize inspection procedures Promote Quality, quality awareness and strengthen existing quality infrastructures and capacities Upgrade Metrology services for international recognition of calibration services Component 3: Establishment and/or development of regional and national quality infrastructures in the whole of ECOWAS and in Mauritania

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