Efficiency key to enhanced fish trade in Africa

NaijaAgroNet

Expert said increased efficiency will reduce wastage, boost trade as well as enhance confidence in Africa’s fish trade, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The Director General, WorldFish, Stephen Hall, took this stand during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his company and the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) .

“Given the cross border nature of the trade, it is important that we achieve a level of alignment. This agreement will enhance the fisheries sector and improve livelihoods for the 12 million Africans that rely on the business”, Hall maintained.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the MoU will allow the two organizations to work together on standards that will provide an Africa-wide framework for producers, distributors and sellers to ensure safety and quality at all stages of the value chain, from catch to the plate. The MoU was also aimed at promoting consumer confidence in African fish for domestic and export markets.

According to the agreement, priority will be given to the sustainability of fisheries, hygiene and storage requirements as well as traceability aspects. The end goal is a continent-wide alignment of standards and certification schemes that will boost the market for fish

Experts, NaijaAgroNet learnt, say a focus on fisheries sustainability is key to opening up global markets with few exports being made from the continent without compliance to standards in this field even as the  MoU is the duo’s  contribution to the commitments for a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) made at the January 2015 African Union Heads of State meeting. The two organizations hope that this expansion of trade will most benefit small and medium scale enterprises.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE/ED,OPs

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 Pix Stephen Hall

ARSO President’s Forum to boost inter-African trade

NaijaAgroNet

African Organization for Standardization’s (ARSO) President’s Forum slated for Abuja next month will remove the restrictions placed by the differences in the standards governing trade among African countries, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Dr Joseph Ikem Odumodu, who is the Director-General of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and president of the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO), while speaking to newsmen in his office in Abuja recently, stated that the theme of the seminar is “the Role of Standards in Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.”

Speaking further, NaijaAgroNet learnt, “Every organism prospers by utilizing the material which every part supplies. But hardly does Africa draw strength from the trade the different countries in the continent engage in because, separated by standards, the countries hardly trade among themselves. Now, ARSO President’s Forum Abuja 2015 is bringing fifty-five heads of national standards bodies (NSB) in Africa together to open the gates of harmonization of standards and let goods and services flow smoothly across the continent”.

 Dr. Odumodu elucidated further that the forum will feature African Day of Standardization seminar in addition to the CEOs Roundtable and the Made in Africa Expo.

 
Participants expected at the forum include manufacturers, service providers, medium and small scale enterprises, investors and representatives of government ministries, departments and agencies. The International Conference Centre, Abuja is the venue of the Forum.

The ARSO President’s Forum, NaijaAgroNet reports, is the aftermath of the 20th ARSO General Assembly endorsement of a proposal for the ARSO President to convene a special forum of NSB chief executives and engage them on ARSO standardization programmes to make Africa one market. The ARSO 20th Assembly took place in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2014.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

 
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