[© 2014 AU-IBAR. Participants attending a training programme in Surveillance and Epidemiology of Trade-Related Transboundary Animal Diseases being Offered by the University of Nairobi, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.] © 2014 AU-IBAR. Participants attendi

The workshop on exit strategy for the National SPS Committee of Guinea was held on 3rd and 4th March 2014 at the Hotel Petit Bateau in Conakry. Forty eight members of the national SPS committee (NSPSC) of Guinea, representatives of AU-IBAR, of FAO and of OIF attended the workshop.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. Marc YOMBOUNO, Minister of Trade accompanied by his colleague, El -Hadj Alpha Ousmane Diallo, Minister of Livestock and Animal Production.

The presentation of the Annual Report 2013 has raised many questions and debates. But ultimately, the Committee was commended for the results achieved, despite the political events that marked the year 2013 in Guinea. Committee members were encouraged to take more online training to enable them to participate in advanced training sessions organized by WTO in Geneva or in regions / continents. Presentations made by each of the three sisters in SPS (Codex Alimentarius, OIE and IPPC) helped to understand their roles and respective responsibilities and the need for them to work in synergy within the national SPS committee.

The projection of the STDF film "Trade Safely" has generated a lot of interest among participants who learned of cases (Belize, Benin, Thailand, and Vietnam) and compared with similar cases in Guinea and in other countries in Africa.

The presentation on the PANSPSO project's exit strategy for the sustainability of SPS activities through the NSPSC of Guinea launched the discussion into groups to identify priority SPS activities to feed a work plan with a budget to implement them with the financial support of the government and the project PANSPSO for the next nine (9) months of the year 2014 which is the end of the PAN SPSO project.