Regional Quality Programme Steering Committee to Meet in Cape Verde (ECOWAS)

5 December 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Praia — The Regional Steering Committee for the West Africa Quality Programme, a capacity building programme to enhance the quality of products from the region will meet in Praia, Cape Verde from 5th to 6th December 2011 to review the progress recorded with the development of the Regional Quality Infrastructure (RQI).

The committee, one of the two for the region, provides advisory services to the Regional Support Unit, supervises the implementation of the programme at the regional and national levels, as well as defines its strategic orientation and approves the regional work plan. The programme is funded under the EU's 9th European Development Fund (EDF) and focuses on building the capacities of ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania in five core areas - accreditation, metrology, standardization, quality production and conformity assessment such as product testing, certification and inspection.

Comprising Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Mauritania, the regional steering committee of Component 2 will also review progress with the development of quality policy for the region. The two-day sixth meeting of the committee will also consider the regional work plan; discuss activities for sustaining the programme at the national level as well as the status of development of the successor programme under the 10th EDF.

The West Africa Quality Programme seeks to support the competitiveness and harmonization of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and phytosanitary measures in the region. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to the gradual integration of West Africa into the global economy by strengthening regional infrastructure through ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA).

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) executes the programme which was to have lapsed in August 2011 but was extended to December 2011 following an agreement by the parties. Discussions are ongoing among ECOWAS, UEMOA and the EU for a January-December 2012 transitional programme before the take-off of the successor programme under the 10th EDF.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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