CAMEROON – The African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) is hosting its 28th General Assembly meeting in Cameroon through the country’s standard watchdog, the Agence Des Normes Et De La Qualité (ANOR).
The event is being held under the theme: “the Standards We Want – African Union Agenda 2063 and African Continental Free Trade Area: “The Role of Standardisation and Conformity Assessment During a Journey of 41 Years”.
The General Assembly composed of the ARSO members is the supreme organ of ARSO and meets once a year to review the progress of the Organisation based on the yearly strategic plans.
This year’s General Assembly week, 27th June – 1st July 202, focuses on a week-long event that reviews the progress of ARSO Programmes under the 2017-2022 strategic plan, since the 26th General Assembly (16th June 2021) and the Extra-Ordinary Meeting, 27th ARSO General Assembly held on 7th October 2021, with forward looking into the implementation of the ARSO 2022-2027 Strategic Plan.
The theme emphasizes on the need for harmonized standards and Conformity Assessment Regimes that “We Want”, for the seamless flow of goods and services in a single market under the AfCFTA Agreement, while facilitating global Market Access Global Trading Systems and in meeting the Aspirations of Agenda 2063 and the UN 2030 SDGs.
“On behalf of the ARSO Fraternity and the ANOR Administration, I welcome you to Yaoundé Cameroon for the 2022 ARSO Week, to discuss the standardisation strategy for the Africa we Want, based on effective Quality Infrastructure and Africa Quality Policy,” said Mr. BOOTO à NGON Charles, the ARSO President and the Director General of ANOR.
“On behalf of the ARSO Fraternity and the ANOR Administration, I welcome you to Yaoundé Cameroon for the 2022 ARSO Week, to discuss the standardisation strategy for the Africa we Want, based on effective Quality Infrastructure and Africa Quality Policy.”
The President noted that the decision by the African Union (AU) to adopt the African Quality Policy and the current momentum being witnessed to achieve the Africa’s regional integration and industrialization Agenda has reinforced the Aspirations of Agenda 2063.
“As we celebrate, therefore, the milestones in standardisation in Africa, at the ARSO 2022 Week, the 28th ARSO GA Events, I wish to point out that, the fast-tracking of the implementation of its Flagship Project, the AfCFTA Agreement, explains, therefore, why the increased need for strengthening the capacity of Quality infrastructure in African countries, remains a key strategy for the Achievement of the Agenda 2063, the Africa we Want, prosperous and self-reliant,” he said.
Also giving his remarks was Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana, the Secretary General of ARSO. He pointed out that the next 41 years of Africa Integration Agenda needs a Universal membership of African countries in ARSO, and greater partnerships between International and African Standardisation Community.
This, he said, will be possible under the Pan African Quality Infrastructure Platform (PAQI Platform), for Common “Standards and harmonized Conformity Assessment” regimes that “we want” to reduce the regulatory burden, which currently has hindered intra-Africa trade and global market access, of African producers, traders and Consumers.
“As the ARSO Fraternity welcomes you to the events of the 28th ARSO General Assembly, we must stay focused to the reality that making the AfCFTA work effectively requires establishing the mechanisms envisaged in its operative provisions, protocols and Annexes and introducing the obligations it imposes into the laws and regulations of each state Party,” he added.
2022 Africa Food Safety Summit
Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana will also be gracing the Africa Food Safety Summit come July 20-22 at the Emara Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. He has served ARSO as its Secretary General since 2012 steering the organisation to fulfil its mandate of harmonising standards and conformity assessment to reduce technical barriers to trade and promote intra-African and global trade.
He is an accomplished standardisation expert who is well recognized as one of the youngest leaders in the standardisation field in Africa and from around the world, influencing African trade and economic policies.
This vast knowledge along the standardisation line makes him the ideal candidate to expound on the topic “Food Safety Infrastructure & Standards Development to Enhance Trade in Africa” during the summit.
The Africa Food Safety Summit in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) is Africa’s premier and largest international food safety, quality management and conformity conference and exhibition.
Dr. Nsengimana holds a PhD in Analytical and environmental chemistry from the School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and a Post-doctoral Studies from the Witwatersrand University and University of Botswana.
The Africa Food Safety Summit in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) is Africa’s premier and largest international food safety, quality management and conformity conference and exhibition.
The Summit brings together regional and global experts and stakeholders to share the latest trends in science and technology; regulations, standards and compliance; operations and sustainable adoption of food safety practices and technologies in the entire agriculture and food value chain in Africa.
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