Quality Assurance of Animals and Products of Animal Origin

This is an important functional category to:

• Meet SPS standards so as to increase Africa’s competitiveness in export markets for animals and products of animal origin and promote better integration of the OIE Code and Codex Alimentarius (administered by WHO and FAO) and international recognition of pragmatic certification procedure
• Maintain and improve domestic food safety and productivity.
• Support and strengthen effective programs and initiatives designed to improve the ability to comply with international standards and to support the harmonization of technical regulations internationally and regionally. To this end, both the Code and the SPS Agreement fulfil an important and facilitating function.
• Ensure that groups of African countries work together under the RECs to identify and prioritize issues of common concern, and act collectively on animal resource and trade issues when lobbying and voting as members of international organizations e.g. WTO, OIE and Codex.

AU-IBAR focus on Quality Assurance

AU-IBAR is developing an effective continental strategy for animal health that will include quality assurance of animals and animal products as it relates to the production chains for livestock export commodities; epidemiology of disease and pest organisms affecting food safety; development of disease monitoring tools; and, risk modeling capacity linked to assessment of the social and economic impact of risk-reduction strategies.
Implications of product safety on trade in livestock and livestock products are also being targeted in the quality assurance process. IBAR and IAPSC have been working with the OIE, IPPC and CAC on SPS-related issues of food safety, animal and plant health.

Quality assurance for veterinary laboratories

AU-IBAR is facilitating the strengthening of and, where necessary, setting up of quality assurance national and regional reference laboratories. These will provide diagnostic and other essential services.
AU-IBAR will promote standardisation of curricula in veterinary colleges and universities by providing guidelines.

Quality assurance on animal feed and nutrition

AU IBAR also provides support in the development of quality assurance on the application of biotechnology to improve livestock feeds and nutrition. Feeds and nutrition remain one of the biggest constraints to both ruminant and non ruminant livestock production in Africa. AU IBAR will support and also provide support in a large array of biotechnologies which use micro organisms to improve process control, efficiency, quality and safety in bio-processing.
In addition, support will be provided in the development of other technologies which can be used to improve feed crops themselves and those involving the use of feed additives such as enzymes which can play a role in specific cases.

Main activities include

1. establishment of quality control in feed standards by facilitating the setting up and identification of reference laboratories. Establish quality assurance systems in diagnostic national and reference laboratories,
2. documentation of experiences and best practices from the animal production programme and elsewhere and establishment of a data base and inventory of animal and feed resources,
3. assistance to RECs and national veterinary services to conform to international SPS standards,
4. development and promotion of credible certification systems,
5. lobbying to put the African initiative in the formulation and review of standards at OIE and WTO,
6. implementation of regional case studies of the implications of WTO rules and SPS regulations on livestock development and trade in Africa using selected commodities (milk, meat, hides and skins).