ARSO UPDATE TO THE TBT COMMITTEE
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE AFRICAN
ORGANIZATION
FOR STANDARDISATION (ARSO)
This document contains information provided by
ARSO for consideration at the TBT Committee meeting of 12-14 November 2025
under Agenda Item 6.a on Updates by Observers.
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. This report provides information on
ARSO's activities for the implementation of the WTO TBT Agreement (and by
extension the AfCFTA Agreement, TBT Annex 6 which is based on the WTO TBT
Agreement) since the last meeting of the TBT Committee held in June 2025, and
based on the ARSO 2025-year running theme "Accelerating Fair and Just Trade in Africa under the African
Continental Free Trade Area through African Coherent Regulatory Framework and
Harmonised standards".
1.2. ARSO is an intergovernmental
Organisation established by the African Union (formerly OAU) and UNECA in 1977
with a mandate to harmonize standards and conformity assessment procedures to
reduce technical barriers to trade and to promote intra-African and Global
Trade, with more information available on the ARSO
website.
2.1. This report is being presented
while the ARSO Fraternity and the International Standardisation stakeholders
just concluded the ISO Annual Meetings 2025, hosted by the Government of the
Republic of Rwanda and through the Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RSB), on 6–10
October 2025, in Kigali, Rwanda, under the theme "United for impact" which demonstrates
the need to harness the collective strength to create solutions for the shared
global challenges through the power of international standards and
collaborations.
2.2. This is underpinned by the WTO TBT
and SPS Agreements and aligned to the Industrialisation targets and ambitions
as set by the African Union Agenda 2063 and the AfCFTA with increased focus on
promoting a Coherent Regulatory Framework (One Standard – one Market).
2.3. During the ISO Annual Meeting 2025,
ARSO and ISO signed the ARSO-ISO Enhanced Cooperation Agreement, dabbed the
Kigali Agreement on 9 October 2025. It is focused on establishing a structured
framework for cooperation between ISO and ARSO and will not only strengthen
regional engagement in international standardisation in support of the AfCFTA
but promote the harmonized adoption and use of ISO international standards and
other ISO deliverables and publications across the African region.
2.4. The Agreement will enable the
alignment of technical work programmes to reduce duplication in standardisation
work and facilitate the withdrawal of conflicting national standards. It will
also encourage capacity building and technical assistance to strengthen Africa's
capacity to participate in ISO/International standardisation.
2.5. During
the signing of the Agreement, the ARSO Secretary General, Dr. Hermogene
Nsengimana highlighted that the "AfCFTA's
vision of a seamless and unified continental market depends on the
harmonization of standards and this Agreement gives ARSO and its members the
tools and framework to accelerate that process", while ISO
Secretary-General Sergio Mujica noted that "the landmark Agreement represented a bold step in strengthening
the role of international standards as enablers of development, trade and
integration across Africa".
2.6. This
aligned to the international regulatory policy of "Once Tested - Once Certified - Accepted everywhere".
3 CURRENT ARSO ACTIVITIES AND
COOPERATION IN FULFILLING ITS MANDATE AND PROMOTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
WTO TBT AGREEMENT IN AFRICA
3.1. As of now, ARSO has harmonized 2,440
standards, including International Standards, under 15 priority Sectors
(including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, automotive, textile and leather among
others) and with 100 Technical Committees with nominated African Experts,
playing a key role in the harmonization process. More standards will be
approved by the 73rd ARSO Council to be held on 17–21 November 2025,
Mombasa, Kenya. The Standards Catalogue is with the ARSO Catalogue also
available online at https://library.arso-oran.org/.
3.2. Currently ARSO is engaging with the
Regional Economic Communities (EAC, COMESA, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, UMA, SADC) in
the development of a continental Standardisation Strategy, aligned to the WTO
TBT/SPS Agreement principles to facilitate the harmonization of standards in
Africa and aligned to the international Regulatory Policy of "Once Tested - Once Certified - Accepted everywhere".
3.2 ARSO
Conformity Assessment Committee (ARSO/CACO)
3.3. The ARSO
Conformity Assessment activities are being implemented under the Conformity
Assessment Committee (ARSO CACO) through the ARSO Conformity Assessment
Programme (ACAP) and are tailored to ensure the harmonization of conformity assessment
(testing, inspection, certification) procedures and technical guidelines and
schemes for implementation by members.
3.4. Under the ACAP, 12
Certification Schemes including the Eco Mark Africa Sustainability Scheme and
the ARSO Continental Dual Marking Conformity Assessment Scheme are currently
being implemented through collaboration with members and the regional
accreditation bodies (with the recent signed MoUs), including:
·_
Nigeria
National Accreditation System (NiNAS) – 26 September 2025
·_
West
African Accreditation System (SOAC WAAS) – 24 September 2025
3.3 Awareness Creation
and Capacity Activities
3.5. For capacity building and awareness
creation, ARSO continued with such activities as the Joint Awareness creation
with members; ARSO Monthly Webinar Sessions, with Panelists from different stakeholders,
including the WTO; ARSO Essay Competition; and ARSO DISNET, with the following
highlights:
3.3.1 Awareness creation
on the benefits of adopting and implementing harmonized Standards, jointky with
member States
3.6. The ARSO Central Secretariat
jointly with members and non-members carried out awareness creation, capacity building
and training on the role of Harmonized Standards, as highlighted below:
·_
24-25 November 2025 - Lusaka, Zambia
·_
27-31 October 2025 - Kampala, Uganda
·_
15-16 October
2025 - Busia Town, Kenya
·_
21-24 September
2025 - Kampala, Uganda
·_
23-24 September
2025 - Nairobi, Kenya
·_
16-18 September 2025 - Freetown, Sierra Leone
·_
19 September 2025 - Kampala, Uganda
·_
8-12 September 2025 - Blantyre, Malawi
·_
8-29 August 2025 - Machakos, Kenya
·_
6 August 2025 - Mogadishu, Somalia
·_
31 July–1
August 2025 - Kampala, Uganda
·_
1–22 July 2025 - Eswatini
·_
23 July 2025 –
Virtual Capacity Building and Training on the Dual Mark Certification Support
for CBs and SMEs
·_
31 July-2
August 2025 – Virtual Capacity Building and Training on the ARSO CACO/ACAP for
Certification Bodies, Accreditation Bodies, and SMEs
3.3.2 ARSO Webinars –
July–October 2025
a._
57th Webinar Session on 30 July 2025 – Co-hosted with
Zambia/ZABS: Theme: Intra-African Trade and the Made in Africa, Topic:
Promoting the African sustainable manufacturing and trade through competitive
Made in Africa Products and the role of standardisation.
b._
58th Session on 27 August 2025: Theme: Regulatory environment
for Electricity Markets in Africa, Topic: Facilitating intra-African Trade in electricity
through regional power pools and electricity markets – the potentials,
opportunities, challenges and role of electrotechnical standards.
c._
59th Session of the ARSO Monthly Webinar Series - 24
September 2025: Theme: E-mobility for the African economies and Trade: Topic: Africa's
electric promise: Positive implications of E-mobility transformative shift and
the role of standardisation and government regulatory policies to leverage its
huge potential.
d._
60th Session - 22 October 2025 - Co-hosted with South Africa:
Theme: Smart Africa: Implementing Smart Cities for Industrialisation,
Sustainable development and transformation of the global economy. Topic:
Benefits and relevance of Smart Cities: Making urbanisation and Smart
Sustainable Cities a powerful driver of economic development and social
mobility in Africa and the role of standards and regulatory frameworks in
promoting Sustainable Urban Development.
3.3.3 ARSO Essay
Competition
3.7. Currently, ARSO and the member
States are undertaking the 13th Essay Competition, 2025/2026 under
the theme, "The role of harmonised
standards in reducing Technical Barriers to Trade and in promoting fair and
just trade within the Intra-African and Global Trade", as
approved by the 72nd ARSO Council on 24 June 2025, held in Zanzibar,
Tanzania.
3.8. The theme articulates the fact that
for Africa, adoption and implementation of harmonized standards will enable
African countries to exploit commercial opportunities in the Regional and
Global Value Chains (Intra-African and Global Trade) by overcoming the
difficulties in demonstrating compliance with stringent and variant national
and regional standards.
3.9. It is expected that the Theme will
enable the students to understand and articulate:
a._
What standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment are and what
unfair and unjust trade is in the context of the WTO TBT Agreement.
b._
What Technical Barriers to Trade are and how they affect Intra-African
and Global Trade and why deeper knowledge by students in regard is important,
as they are the next generation of standardisers, trade and policy makers.
c._
How African small traders and SMEs are affected by different standards
and conformity assessment regimes.
3.10. The winners and participating
countries will be recognized and awarded in June 2026, during the 32nd
ARSO General Assembly, in Kampala, Uganda.
3.3.4 Transparency
Activities and Sharing standards and Market Requirements Information through
the ARSO DISNET
3.11. The implementation of activities is
based on the AfCFTA TBT Annex 6, Article 11 and the WTO TBT Agreement clauses
for transparency under Articles 10 and 15.2, which highlight the need for notifications
on technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures and
other measures that may affect trade.
3.12. Through the DISNET Platform, ARSO
members continue to receive the WTO ePing notifications, SPS and/or TBT
notifications circulated by the WTO with reference made to the one made on 8
October 2025 and where it is recognised that Egypt made 32 notifications,
including: The Egyptian Standard ES 4299 "Packaging Recommendations for addressing consumer needs".
3.13. Currently, ARSO, in collaboration
with UNIDO, is also undertaking a TBT and SPS Desk review study on ongoing
initiatives to address the TBT/SPS challenges in the continent.
4 TECHNICAL COOPERATION AS PROVIDED
FOR UNDER THE WTO TBT AGREEMENT ARTICLE 11 AND THE AFCFTA TBT ANNEX, ARTICLE
12, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
4.1. For technical support and capacity building,
ARSO continues to cooperate with both regional and international organizations,
including, the AAAM, Afreximbank, African Development Bank (AfDB), African
Union ALLPI, AOAC International, ASTM International, AU/AfCFTA Secretariat,
AUDA-NEPAD, BSI , CEN-CENELEC, GSO/AIDMO/OSP, IEEEE, ICIPE, ISO, ITC, PTB
Germany, SADC, UL Standards, UNCTAD, UNECA, UNECE, and UNIDO, among others.
5 COOPERATION WITH THE WTO
5.1. ARSO appreciates
the mutual cooperation with the WTO, which is currently promoting the creation
of awareness on the implementation of the WTO TBT Agreements in Africa and
about the challenges of technical barriers to trade and the need for
strengthening Quality Infrastructure, with the WTO support on the Transparency
Champions initiative (initiated in 2022) to facilitate transparency in the standards
harmonization process within the AfCFTA Framework, as per the WTO TBT Agreement
and the AfCFTA Agreement, TBT Annex 6, Article 11 on Transparency.
6 CONCLUSION
6.1. ARSO remains focused on the Strategic Plan 2022-2027 on
harmonizing standards and conformity assessment procedures, capacity building,
and awareness creation in the context of the WTO TBT Agreement. It also
addresses the need to develop regulatory policies that address the standardization
needs and challenges of African enterprises, as TBT (e.g., regulations, product
standards, testing and certification procedures), and SPS (e.g., food safety
and animal and plant health standards) measures still pose technical barriers
for enterprises and SMEs in developing regions (UNCTAD/ITE/TEB/2005/1). Cooperation
with the WTO therefore remains strategic in the context of facilitating a coherent
regulatory framework and achieving "Once
Tested - Once Certified - Accepted everywhere".
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