South Sudan National Bureau of Standards and Uganda National Bureau of Standards on Thursday in Nimule held a bilateral meeting regarding standards and quality issues that impact transboundary trade.
Two principals led the meeting: Mr. Nangalama Daniel Richard Makayi, the acting executive director of the UNBS, and Hon. Dr. Kuorwel Kuai Kuorwel, the chairperson of the SSNBS.
The discussion covered cross-border standards and quality-related matters pertaining to cereals, namely maize grains, and flour, with a focus on certification and laboratory examination of the maize flour, according to the press release that The Radio Community was able to view.
The standards needed for other items (fruits and vegetables), dairy products, chicken, and chicken products (eggs), as well as beverages, were also covered in the discussion on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues.
The discussion also covered the certification of goods from South Sudan, including teak logs and dried and salted fish.
The following decisions and conclusions marked the successful conclusion of the meeting:
- Cereal and cereal products (mainly maize flour) from the Republic of Uganda must be accompanied by a certification permit from the UNBS.
- South Sudan requested that other products, such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products (fresh milk and yogurt), chicken and chicken products, and fish and fish products, be accompanied by the SPS certificate from the SPS Competent Authorities in Uganda. Nonetheless, SSNBS should officially communicate issues related to SPS requirements to the competent authorities.
- The two national standards bodies have agreed to set up a technical team to harmonize sampling, test methods, and certification processes. The technical collaboration team will start immediately and present their report within a month in a meeting that will be convened in Elegu, Uganda.
- The two national standards bodies have agreed to revert to the EAC standardization, quality assurance, metrology, and testing arrangements after receiving the report of the Joint Technical Team.
- South Sudan has raised and noted that some traders import goods outside the EAC region and re-package them in Uganda, where they are imported to South Sudan. The meeting resolved that products that do not originate from Uganda and are re-packaged in Uganda shall be subjected to reshipment for verification of conformity requirements. However, timely sharing of information on repackaged goods is encouraged.
- South Sudan raised the concern that certain products are often exported from South Sudan to Uganda and other parts of the world and do not pass through the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards. It was noted that Uganda can help by demanding certification or relevant documents from relevant authorities in South Sudan. Uganda agreed to cooperate and request that the documentation from relevant authorities be recognized.
- South Sudan has raised a concern about some products being labeled ” For Export to South Sudan Only.” The meeting resolved that the labeling should be changed to “for exports only.” UNBS agreed that it would share the concern of SSNBS with other agencies on this matter. SSNBS will submit the list of companies that labeled goods “Export to South Sudan” to UNBS so it is coordinated with other stakeholders and those companies; and
- SSNBS and UNBS signed a MoU in 2017, but it has not been operationalized. The two National Standards Bodies agreed to have the MOU reviewed and fully operationalized.
The SSNBS Act (2012) of the Republic of South Sudan established and mandated the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards as a semi-autonomous institution and the leading agency for standards and conformity assessment services with the aim of making an impactful contribution to consumer safety and health security by building effective consumer product safety frameworks based on the Imports and Exports Policy (2012).
In this context, the National Bureau of Standards’ responsibility is to improve the performance of markets by facilitating trade and, on the other hand, to protect legitimate objectives related to the health, safety, and security of the population and the protection of the environment.
