MARKUP Trains over 260 Standard Developers and Trainers on Development & Harmonisation of Food Standards in EAC

A series of trainings for 261 stakeholders across sectors including academia, the private sector and government institutions have been completed across East African countries to address a recognised knowledge gap in standards harmonisation. 19 future trainers from national standard bodies were also trained (4 from Burundi, 3 from Kenya, 3 from Rwanda, 3 from South Sudan, 3 from Tanzania and 3 from Uganda).

The main training reached 261 national stakeholders – 46 in Burundi, 47 in Kenya, 43 in Rwanda, 27 in South Sudan, 50 in Tanzania and 48 in Uganda – and used a variety of methods including face-to-face lectures, discussions, in-session exercises and workshops, simulations, experience sharing and demonstrations to emphasise the importance of standards harmonisation and ensure participants gained the knowledge to set in motion action for standards harmonisation

Speaking during the training report validation workshop, Mr. David Ebuku, the lead regional trainer expressed the need for a comprehensive training of trainers to ensure that trainers have competence and confidence to continue training at national level. 'This will enhance a common understanding among the trainers which can be transmitted to stakeholders at national level. The current level of competence appears to vary amongst Partner States,' he added.

The global trade in food products has tripled in the last decade, with enormous impact on both the health of populations and the economies of nations. In these long, complex supply chains, it is vital that food is of good quality and kept safe for consumption when it reaches the consumer. Food safety standards and regulations are essential to ensure food is safe at all points along the supply chains, in both international and regional trade.

Harmonisation of standards at the EAC is guided by Principles and procedures for the development of East African Standard formulated in accordance with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT Agreement). The principles and procedures to be adhered to establish a preferred style for the development of the standards thereby allowing for consistency of the documents, as well as elaborating on the methodologies for publication of standards.

Read more about the development and harmonisation of standards in the EAC in the MARKUP Policy Briefs no. 1 - 4.