Some twenty experts on food safety issues responded to an invitation from the ECOWAS Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) to review progress and pre-validate the first version of harmonised health inspection and risk-based decision-making guide. From 3 to 6 July 2023 in Dakar, the participants reviewed each section of the draft document to provide additional information and make the necessary corrections.
The guide to harmonised health inspection and risk-based decision-making is a key document in the regulation of the food system in West Africa to harmonise inspection methods and scientific decision-making in ECOWAS member countries and in the Sahel. It will help to ensure the safe trade of agricultural products, increase the transparency of health inspection, the collection and recording of data and speed up the availability of safe products.
Its availability and above all its use will make it possible to meet the recurring challenges of food safety issues in relation to Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and also the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF), promote better coordination, collaboration and cooperation and strengthen capacity building as well as increased mobilisation and harmonisation of resources in the West Africa and Sahel region.
The ECOWAS Commission and its partners intend to provide the region with this guide before the end of 2023 through a drafting process that began in May 2023 and will be completed in September/October 2023. The final document is expected October, once it has been approved by the Convergence Committee on Food Safety.
