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COMESA weekly newsletter eThis bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Corporate Communications Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat. For Feedback: [email protected]
Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center , Ben Bella Road P.O. Box 30051, +260 211 229 725, +260 211 225 107
www.comesa.int; email: [email protected]
Issue #: 521_13th June 2017
AU HQ: Venue of the 18th COMESA Summit
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Participants at the regional seed meeting
COMESA develops seed labels and certificates for intra-regional seed trade
teams from seven COMESA Member States that have aligned their national seed laws to the COMESA Seed Policies.
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi participated in the meeting alongside 20 seed companies in the eastern and southern Africa region.
COMESA Alliance of Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) and the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) organized the meeting.
The COMESA seed labels are based on the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and will apply to four seed classes: Pre-basic Seed, Basic Seed, Certified Seed (1st Generation) and Certified Seed (2nd Generation).
Intraregional seed trade is set for a boost following the introduction of seed labels and
certificates to be utilized by seed companies for large consignment crossing the borders. The move is intended to spur regional trade through improved seed varieties across the region.
The COMESA Seed Labels and Certificates will be used by member States to identity seeds in the market that meets the COMESA Seed Trade Harmonization Regulations of 2014.
This development is line with the COMESA Seed Harmonization and Implementation Plan (COMSHIP) that provides a framework for the 19 COMESA Member States to trade, facilitate seed industry and support local seed companies.
Samples of the labels and certificates were presented during a one day meeting of regional seed companies and National Seed Review
According to Dr John Mukuka, the Seed Expert at ACTESA, the certificates will be given to a seed company upon verification that a Seed Lot is of a released variety on the regional catalogue.He said the procurement of the labels and certificates will be done in the course of July and ready for use in August 2017.
“Seed exporting companies will be issued with a COMESA Regional Seed Certificate to confirm they are qualified,” Dr Mukuka said.
The labels and certificates are designed to certify the seeds as having been produced in accordance with all the requirements the COMESA Seed Certification System as provided by the COMESA Seed Trade Harmonization Regulations.
Further, they will verify that seed multiplication
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COMESA weekly newslettere
Civil aviation experts meeting in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Dr Waleed Al-Wohaib and Mr Sindiso Ngwenya
Civil Aviation technical experts from the COMESA region have agreed on the
implementation of the regional Seamless Upper Airspace project.
Subject to approval by COMESA Council of Ministers, the region will next year start implementing a seven year programme which will eventually culminate in the establishment of a seamless upper airspace based on harmonized civil aviation rules and procedures. This will result in improved safety, security, reduced operating and travel costs for airlines. The experts met for the third technical and financial feasibility study of the COMESA Airspace integration project in Victoria Falls town of Zimbabwe from 7-9 June 2017.
First PhaseThe implementation of the first phase of the COMESA Seamless Upper Airspace Project has been agreed to by the experts from Member countries most of whom are currently working as individual countries when it comes to the aviation sector.
Director of Infrastructure and Logistics Mr. Jean Baptiste Mutabazi described the project as critical for the regional economic bloc and its people.
“The ultimate goal is to create a common
market. A seamless upper airspace will greatly help us achieve that. We need to have a common control international center which will lead to efficiency, improved safety and cost effectiveness in the aviation industry,” Mr. Mutabazi said in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe.He was speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the 3rd Technical and Financial Feasibility regional workshop.
This project will assist the region to establish a seamless upper airspace by deploying satellite-based air navigation technology to enhance safety and the flow of air traffic hence supporting trade, tourism and regional socio-economic integration in COMESA.
Individual OperationsCOMESA countries currently operate the airspace individually a situation which contributes to the high the cost of operations and air travel.
With this project Mr. Mutabazi said the region will have harmonized rules, standards and procedures and will be able to share routes for aircrafts to use. This will have a direct positive impact on operating costs.
“Once the cost of operating an aircraft is reduced we expect that airlines will also reduce the cost of the ticket. This means more people will afford the tickets and use air travel more often,” he said.
Moving towards a seamless upper airspace
Speaking during the opening of the technical workshop, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Eng. Michael Madanha said a seamless upper airspace will promote growth and regional integration.
Benefits“The benefits of the harmonized and seamless upper air space integration project are safe, efficient and cost effective air navigation services which will support trade, tourism and regional socio-economic integration,” Minister Madanha said.
He mentioned some of the challenges faced by airlines in the region as high operational costs, inefficiencies, lack of flexibility and differing regulations and procedures.
A team of experts from the Project Consultants EGIS AVIA of France led by Mr. Thierry Debord made various presentations on the technical and financial feasibility study of establishing the project.
The workshop was attended by civil aviation experts from Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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COMESA weekly newsletter e
Kenya’s Agriculture PS Mr. Richard Lesiyampe addressing delegates
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The Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) in
partnership with FoodTrade East & Southern Africa (ESA) programme last week launched national seed laws that have been aligned to the COMESA Seed Policies.
The launch took place in Nairobi, Kenya where national Seed Review teams from seven COMESA member states participated. They comprised Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. The teams also participated in a three-day meeting that discussed strategies to improve the movement of seeds across the region.
COMSHIPThe aim of harmonizing country seed laws and regulations under the COMESA Seed Harmonization Implementation Programme (COMSHIP) is to bring about consistent domestication, application, monitoring and improvement in seed certification, quarantine and phytosanitary measures. This in addition to the evaluation and release of seed varieties among COMESA member countries. It will also give smallholder farmers in the region better access to quality inputs and related technologies.
Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture Mr. Richard Lesiyampe officiated over the
launch on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary Mr. Willy Bett. He described the launch as a historic opportunity to collectively reflect on how best to plan and avoid or mitigate risks that face the agriculture sector in the region.
“I am happy to note that all the country processes have been home-grown and sensitive to country situations while keeping the broader objective of attaining the harmonized regulations in focus,” Mr. Lesiyampe noted. “This deliberate inclusivity in the process has led to harmonized regulations that are widely acceptable to seed industry stakeholders.”
Historically, the regulatory environment surrounding seed production and certification has made it costly to do business in this sector, discouraging private sector companies from investing in innovation and expanded production.
UK Aid, through the FoodTrade ESA programme, has provided targeted grants to a number of organizations implementing projects that are bridging gaps within the sector. The grant provided to the ACTESA has helped to support the domestication of harmonized seed trade regulations across East and Southern Africa.
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COMESA develops seed labels..... was registered, inspected and met COMESA field standards and that the Seed Lot meets the minimum laboratory seed analysis standards of the COMESA Seed Trade Harmonization Regulations.
The labels will be tagged on bags of seeds that will be traded across the countries that have aligned their national seed laws with COMESA harmonized laws. Currently, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zimbabwe have completed aligning their national seed laws while Malawi and Zambia are in final stages of the process.
Following the endorsement of the proposed documents, a regional firm will be contracted to formulate and design the COMESA Seed Labels. The design will take into account consistency in quality and numbering. To ensure readability the labels will incorporate machine-readable features, security features and traceability across
COMESA Member States
Dr Mukuka said: “The contracted firm will be the sole printer of the COMESA Seed Trade Harmonisation Regulations documentations. The firm will come up with control measures for labels branding, printing, issuance and accountability of the documents and printed in English, French and Arabic, the COMESA official languages.”
Working with the National Seed Authorities the COMESA ACTESA will authorise the issuance of the COMESA Seed Labels and Seals for the seed companies.
Eventually, the COMESA Seed Lot consignment will be incorporated into the COMESA Virtual Trade Facilitation System (CVTFS), an online system used for processing trade facilitation instruments and cargo monitoring.
Seed exporting companies will be issued with a COMESA Regional Seed Certificate to confirm they are qualified,” Dr Mukuka said.
Country Harmonized COMESA Seed Regulations have been launched
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COMESA weekly newslettere
Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe have gazetted their harmonized national laws while Malawi and Zambia are in the process of doing so. The five will embark on national awareness creation workshops of the gazetted national seed regulations. The meeting resolved to support Malawi and Zambia in the gazettement of the aligned seed regulations and or standards to ensure the seed trade reached a wider market.
Other resolutions of the meeting included; provision of training to support small and medium seed producers using COMESA seed standards, provide country support to the development of COMESA Seed Manuals / protocols for inspections and conducting studies for new varieties; finalise production of COMESA Seed Labels and Certificates for use by seed companies; conduct COMESA Seed Baseline Study; hold the 4th meetings
of COMSHIP Project Advisory Committee and Variety Release Technical Seed Meetings in October, 2017 and engage ACTESA Alliance Partners in resource mobilisation to implement proposed interventions in the short and long term.
COMESA Seed Regulations to be printed in 14 local languages
COMESA Seed Trade Harmonisation Regulations have been translated in 14 local languages in seven COMESA countries and will now be printed to enhance awareness creation. The targeted countries are that those that have harmonized their national seed laws with the COMESA Seed Policies and include Burundi, Kenya, Malawi Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The decision was made by National Seed Review teams from the seven countries that participated in a three-day meeting to discuss strategies to improve the movement of seeds across the region. The meeting was organized by the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) in partnership with the FoodTrade East & Southern Africa (ESA) programme.
Five countries comprising of Burundi,
National Seed Review teams’ meeting in Nairobi
The targeted countries are that those that have harmonized their national seed laws with the COMESA Seed Policies and include Burundi, Kenya, Malawi Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
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COMESA weekly newsletter e
Saturday, June 10, 2017 marked two years since the Tripartite Free Trade Area
(TFTA) was launched in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. So far, 18 countries from the eastern and southern African region have signed the Agreement but non has ratified it.
The Tripartite brings together three regional economic communities namely COMESA, the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It has 26 Member States with a combined population of 632 million people and a Gross Domestic Product of US$1.3 trillion.
The tripartite FTA is anchored on three pillars namely: market integration, industrial development and infrastructure development. Once fully signed and ratified, the FTA is expected to enhance regional integration, harmonize trade and investment regimes and infrastructure programmes, facilitate movement of business persons and pursue development of common programmes for effective and efficient use of available resources.
Last week in Lusaka, a Status of the Tripartite Free Trade Area report was presented to participants in workshop on Transport and Logistics organized by UNECA, the Port Management Association for Eastern and
Southern Africa (PMAESA) and the Zambian government.
Addressing the participants, Senior Transport Economist at COMESA Secretariat Mr. Bernard Dzawanda appealed to the member States to quickly ratify the tripartite Agreement to make it functional.
“Even though significant strides have been made in the negotiating process, implementation of the Agreement is behind schedule and these delays are contributing to the slow pace at which Member States are signing the Agreement,” Mr. Dzawanda pointed out.
Some of the key issues to be addressed which are covered in the Annexes include the need for all the 26 countries to sign and ratify the Agreement. However, for the Agreement to come into force, 14 out of the 26 countries need to ratify.
However, some of the key annexes to the agreement are not yet in place as they are still being negotiated. Some Annexes have been adopted and negotiations are currently underway between some States. In addition, the exchange and negotiation of tariff offers by Tripartite Member States is also lagging behind.
Countries urged to ratify agreement as tripartite clocks 2 years
“The focus of the FoodTrade ESA programme is improving the quality and quantity of staple foods that our farmers produce and to ensure that they benefit from trading surpluses across the region. Our work with ACTESA has laid a very important foundation to promote coherence in the production and trade of seed across East and Southern Africa.
“By working to ensure that national level seed laws are aligned with regional policies, private sector firms will be willing to increase investments in commercial seeds for export, making better seeds and inputs readily available to farmers across Africa,” explained Steve Orr, Team Leader of the FoodTrade ESA programme.
The project “Domestication of harmonized seed trade regulations within COMESA and the EAC” has been implemented by FoodTrade ESA in partnership with ACTESA since January 2015. Activities have focused on supporting national teams to embed harmonized seed regulations, promoting awareness of the COMESA seed trade harmonization regulations, and providing capacity building in production to smallholder farmers.
ACTESA, with the support of FoodTrade ESA, facilitated domestication of harmonized seed trade policies and regulations in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda. The three countries joined Burundi and Rwanda which completed the review and gazettement of their seed trade policies and can now fully participate in the production, certification, registration and trade of improved seed varieties across the region.
The project is also supporting similar processes in Zambia and Malawi.
“Now that the five countries have gazetted the laws, the work starts,” ACTESA Chief Finance Officer Mrs. Gizila Takavarasha urged the delegates.
Harmonized seed regulations...
