From 25 to 28 November 2025, the Togolese Standardisation Agency (ATN) organised in Lomé, with the support of the Food System Resilience Programme in West Africa (FSRP-Togo), the validation of 42 national standards in priority sectors such as cereals, tubers and legumes, meat and poultry, horticulture and derived products.
Despite the internalisation of international and regional standards (ISO, IEC, ECOSTAND, CODEX, etc.), Togo did not yet have its own national standards for these priority sectors. This absence was a major obstacle to the competitiveness of products, the improvement of their quality and their access to markets. It was precisely to remove this obstacle and promote the free movement of products at regional and international levels that FSRP-Togo provided support for the development of national standards adapted to both the realities of the country and the requirements of regional and global trade.
Launched in 2024, the development process resulted in 42 draft standards, which were reviewed in a rigorous, inclusive and concerted manner with a view to their validation. Over four days, experts and stakeholders identified the standards to be made mandatory and defined the next steps in a project considered transformative for Togo's food and economic sovereignty.
The meeting was opened by the authorities responsible for promoting investment, who emphasised the importance of an economic framework based on quality, safety and competitiveness. Discussions then highlighted the strategic role of quality standards in improving product safety, business performance, cost reduction and trade dynamism. The objective is clear: to make the 42 standards currently being developed a sustainable tool for enhancing agri-food value chains and strengthening the "Made in Togo" label.
This initiative is part of Component 3 of the Food System Resilience Programme in West Africa (FSRP), dedicated to market integration, regional food trade and the development of agricultural trade. Thanks to the support of the Programme, Togo is now establishing its first national regulatory framework for agri-food, in line with regional policies and standards.
With this unprecedented set of standards, the country is taking a major step towards more competitive and secure production that can conquer regional and international markets. Standardisation is thus becoming a structuring lever for the competitiveness and resilience of Togo's strategic agricultural sectors.
