EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY: Focused Enquiry Point Capacity Building
Under the Standards Alliance program, work has been carried out by Ms. Diane Thompson, Principal Standards Advisor, to develop action plans to improve the effectiveness of the Enquiry Points and Notification Authorities required under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement). This technical assistance engages Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia in the SADC region and all five EAC countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
During August 2015, Ms. Thompson traveled to Tanzania and Rwanda to implement the action plans. A similar trip to Uganda and Kenya is planned for early 2016. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, meetings were held with staff of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards and Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss the three tasks of the action plan: improving the WTO TBT Enquiry Point and Notification Authority, communication with stakeholders, and promotion. On-site training requested by the participants focused on conformity assessment, transparency provisions of the WTO TBT Agreement, operating procedures, notifications, resources, and reporting.
In Kigali, Rwanda, Ms. Thompson participated in a seminar on the effective implementation of the WTO TBT Agreement in Rwanda. Highlights of the seminar included an overview of the TBT Agreement, transparency, roles and responsibilities of the Enquiry Point and Notification Authority, and communication with stakeholders. Ms. Thompson also provided onsite training with the staff responsible for TBT Enquiry Point.
Materials
Photos
