The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is stepping up efforts to harmonize product standards and other regulations across the continent as non-tariff barriers continue to complicate cross-border trade, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.
Poonam D. Mohun, Head of the Non-Tariff Measures Division at the AfCFTA Secretariat, said differences in national regulations, testing requirements and certification procedures can make it expensive and difficult for African businesses to expand into new markets.
The challenge is becoming increasingly important as the AfCFTA seeks to reduce tariffs and create a single continental market. “Once you reduce customs tariffs, non-tariff measures” become one of the major issues affecting trade in goods, Mohun said during the AfCFTA Podcast.
Non-tariff measures include regulations designed to protect consumers and ensure products meet safety and quality requirements. They can cover food safety, product labelling, laboratory testing, certification and technical standards.
Such measures are not necessarily barriers to trade, Mohun said, since countries need regulations to ensure imported products are safe. The problem arises when different national requirements force businesses to undergo repeated testing and certification when entering multiple African markets.
For small businesses, those costs can be substantial. Mohun cited the example of an exporter that obtains a conformity certificate in one African country but is required to repeat the same tests after entering another market.
“If I have to pay $300 just to get my certificate saying this is to the norm, this is a lot of money for me,” she said, describing the potential burden on an SME. The AfCFTA is seeking to address the problem through the harmonization of standards and regulations across member states.
A proposed Mutual Recognition Agreement, which would allow certain certificates and conformity assessments issued in one participating country to be accepted in another, has already been approved at the technical level by the AfCFTA’s Technical Barriers to Trade Committee, Mohun said.
The agreement is expected to move through additional AfCFTA decision-making structures, including the Committee on Trade in Goods and the Council of Ministers.
If implemented, the arrangement could reduce the need for businesses to repeat costly testing when moving products across African borders.
The Secretariat has divided its work on non-tariff measures into key areas, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures covering agricultural and food products and technical barriers to trade dealing with standards, accreditation, laboratory testing and certification. Mohun said political support for regulatory harmonization has been strong, although implementation will take time.
“The political will is there,” she said, adding that member states had made significant progress in the relatively short period since the AfCFTA began operating. The next phase will be translating technical agreements into systems that businesses can use when trading across the continent.
