They need to enhance compliance with technical standards to
heighten consumer confidence and gain access to regional and global
value chains, especially those of transnational corporations. In
the rules-based trading system, the agro-food sector provides
immediate opportunities as many developing countries have good
climatic conditions, available arable land and a sufficient pool of
labour to expand agricultural production. Given the low level of
initial investment required in small-scale operations, small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in agro-processing can readily move
up the value chain, thereby generating poverty reduction and
development in rural communities.
Role of national quality infrastructure
With the globalization of production, and supply and retailer
chains, ensuring the safety and quality of products is vital.
Recent health concerns arising from bovine diseases, bird flu and
various toxins entering the food chain have led to stringent
standards and conformity procedures, particularly in the area of
agro-food exports. Exporting countries must acquire the capability
to conform to requirements in terms of quality, safety, health and
the environment if they are to participate fully in global
markets.
Two WTO agreements - Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) - define the rules under
which standards and technical regulations can be formulated and how
disputes are resolved. In formulating the agreements, it was
recognized that developing countries have significant gaps in
national standards infrastructure, and specific clauses in the
agreements refer to the need for technical assistance to be
provided to them.
The technical regulations and standards applied in developing
countries, including packaging, marking and labelling requirements,
are often incompatible with international standards. Laboratory
capacity to test and certify goods for developed markets is also
patchy. Steps taken to nurture a quality culture will build client
and consumer confidence, not only in international markets, but
also in domestic markets.
Building blocks of compliance capacity
Developing countries must be able to prove the reliability of
their test data, maintain high-quality certification and inspection
procedures and establish conformity to international standards
and/or those applied in importing countries. Local metrological
(measurement and calibration) and testing capabilities reduce
testing costs which would be incurred if products could only be
tested abroad or through locally based international services.
Demonstrating a capacity to conform to standards requires the
establishment of efficient testing, certification and accreditation
mechanisms to meet the requirements of the SPS and TBT agreements.
Compliance infrastructure will broadly include the following:
national standards institute; microbiology and chemical testing
laboratories; national metrology institute; and national
accreditation cert-ification capacity to certify enterprises for
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22000 and to train internal
auditors.
Compliance services are costly but should be considered a public
good. Least developed countries in particular may require
international assistance to establish costly new standards
infrastructure.
UNIDO was established in 1966 and became a specialized
agency of the United Nations in 1985. It has 173 member States and
is responsible for promoting sustainable industrial development in
developing countries and economies in transition. Its headquarters
is in Vienna, Austria, and it is represented in more than 50
countries. UNIDO has three thematic priorities:
- Poverty reduction through productive
activities
- Trade capacity building
- Environment and energy.
CASE STUDY
Supporting 'farm to fork' traceability
Egypt
In 2002, following a series of food scares in the 1990s, the
European Union (EU) created the European Food Safety Authority
which focuses on tracing the production of food and feed through
all phases of production, processing and distribution.
Egypt needed to create the institutions and procedures to meet
these new safety standards for exports to the EU, one of its main
trading partners. UNIDO established the Egyptian Traceability
Centre for Agro-Industrial Exports (ETRACE), developed
product-specific traceability manuals and trained more than 600
national experts. Initial assistance focused on 11 horticultural
products involving 47,000 growers and about 5 million workers and
some 100 processing and packing houses in the Nile delta, which
received technical and financial assistance. There were more than
250 field visits by experts and some 40 technical assessments that
traced the progress of farm products through its value chain, 'farm
to fork'. Assistance was given to the plant quarantine department
and to the national pesticides database. ETRACE also assists food
manufacturers. Mock traceability alerts in association with a
European supermarket showed that rejected produce could be
identified within 24 hours of enabling a product recall. ETRACE
also helps minimize the spread of contagious plant and animal
diseases through early detection while tracking the food chain and
improves supply-chain management and efficiency.
CASE STUDY
Assisting fisheries to achieve EU compliance standards
Pakistan
The EU Food and Veterinary Office inspected the fisheries
industry in Pakistan in 2005 and found several areas of
non-compliance with EU regulations on consumer health and safety.
Efforts to gain access to the lucrative EU market were hampered by
outdated production methods and by lack of compliance with EU SPS
standards.
The marine fisheries department of Pakistan's Ministry of Food,
Agriculture and Livestock worked with UNIDO to overcome the
problem. UNIDO provided expert advice to redesign and re-equip
laboratories and train staff. The laboratories participated
successfully in the required International Proficiency Testing, and
18 laboratories gained international accreditation for product
testing. UNIDO assisted in improving standards in the supply chain
based on a detailed study of fish production. More than 1,100
people, including fishermen, boat owners, fish auctioneers and
government staff, were trained. Standard Operating Procedures were
developed: upgrading the EU-mandated competent authorities;
improving landing sites; renovating auction halls; and introducing
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point practices and
information technology-based traceability methods in 11 fish
processing plants.
CASE STUDY
UEMOA/ECOWAS members improve and harmonize SPS service providers
West Africa
UNIDO is working with eight countries members of the Economic
and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) and the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to strengthen export
competitiveness. All these countries, with the exception of Côte
d'Ivoire, are least developed countries with limited export
performance and infrastructure.
Key export products are cotton, fish, fruits, vegetables, cashew
nuts, oil seeds and edible oils. Internationally accredited
microbiological and chemical testing and SPS compliance systems
were not availble to local exporters. UNIDO assisted in:
- Establishing a subregional institutional structure
for coordinating standardization, certification and quality
promotion
- Establishing modern national standardization
institutes in each country
- Creating a subregional accreditation body
- Training 500 executives and scientists, 200 private
consultants, 53 auditor evaluators and 50 auditors for standards
implementation
- Adopting standards for 500 key products and giving
easy access to international standards
- Developing a database for the standards and technical
regulations of the eight countries
- Establishing a quality awards system for the best
performing enterprises.
The countries agreed that regulations dealing with
accreditation, certification, standardization and metrology should
be harmonized and unified in view of the paucity of resources
available in the region. Regional structures will be
established.
CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
Defined
Conformity assessment, according to the definition of ISO/IEC
17000, is the 'demonstration that specified requirements relating
to a product, process, system, body are fulfilled'. It involves
sampling, inspection, testing and certification as a means of
giving assurance to the parties of a transaction that the product,
process, system, body or person does in fact conform to the
requirements of a standard.
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
For developing countries in building conformity infrastructure
Challenges
- High cost of compliance - the costs of establishing
the technical infrastructure for complying with standards and
technical regulations constitute a major obstacle to building
productive capacity in developing countries.
- Lack of institutions, infrastructure and human
resources for providing conformity assessment - the certification
and testing capacities are non-existent or weak, or have difficulty
demonstrating that the national certification and testing schemes
meet international best practice standards.
- The multitude of often contradictory standards -
ranging from national, international, private, product and
process-related standards, leading to the question of which
standards developing countries have the capacity to comply
with?
Opportunities
- Competitive advantage - if developing country
exporters are able to demonstrate and prove that they comply with
the standards, they can enter the global value chain, gain consumer
confidence and trust and benefit from access to a larger market
which will ultimately lead to growth, wealth creation and poverty
reduction.
TOOLS & GUIDES FOR
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
UNIDO
Fast forward: National Standards Bodies in Developing
Countries
Fast forward is a joint publication by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and UNIDO on
the establishment and management of national standards bodies. It
covers the main principles of standardization at national, regional
and international levels, illustrating the building blocks
essential for the development of a national quality infrastructure
that enables sustainable development and fulfils the technical
requirements of the multilateral trading system.
Labnetwork Portal
Labnetwork is a joint effort by UNIDO and the World Association
of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations, in
partnership with the International Laboratory Accreditation
Cooperation, ISO, BIPM (International weights and measures office)
and Vimta Labs Ltd (India), to create a global laboratory network
in the field of testing and calibration. It draws together members
from developed and developing countries and provides a forum for
the pooling and sharing of knowledge, experiences and information
on laboratory development.
For further information, visit www.labnetwork.org.