ARSO President Forum. Introduction. ARSO Presidents.

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1 ARSO President Forum Introduction The African Organisation for Standardisation, formerly the African Regional Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) traces its genesis to the unfolding events and the prevailing mood of the African socio-political and economic Pan-Africanism of the 1970s and the culmination of which at a Conference held at the historic and important city of Accra, Ghana. The idea of a continental standardisation body had received considerable impetus from the buoyant and optimistic mood that characterised the post-independence period in most of Africa. The mood then, under the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), was one of pan-african solidarity and collective self-reliance born of a shared destiny with standardisation viewed as a guidepost of the destiny and bedrock of African Economic Integration Agenda and a route to linking up of the fresh Africa s economy with the rest of the world and to deliver the African Common Market for economic prosperity of the continent. It was under these circumstances that, on 10 th 17 th January 1977 in Accra, Ghana, the African Governments under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (E NECA) and the OAU convened the Founding Conference of ARSO to consider the first Constitution of ARSO and to witness the formation of the Organisation to speed-up African Economic Integration. ARSO Presidents. Since its inception, ARSO has had thirteen Presidents with the Current President being Dr. JOSEPH ODUMODU, also the Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria. Within the Provisions of the ARSO Constitution, Article 10, the ARSO President is a non-executive officer of ARSO and presides over the General Assembly and over the Council and submits to the General Assembly the proposals made and the decisions taken by the Council and guides the activity of the Central Secretariat with the assistance of the Council.

2 The ARSO President Chairs the ARSO Council Strategic Oversight Committee which oversees, reviews, develops recommendations and report to the ARSO Council on issues related to the implementation of the ARSO Strategic Plan, Staff and Finance. 1. Background The 20th ARSO General Assembly took note and approved the 50th ARSO Council Resolution 7 on the Report of the ARSO Secretary General on the Current Status of ARSO Programmes and Activities, section on the engagement of the current members on membership mobilisation, in which the Council ACKNOWLEDGED the need for the proposed President s/nsbs CEOs Forum for the engagement on ARSO Standardisation programmes, resource and membership mobilisation. It is with respect to this oversight role that the ARSO Fraternity is expecting to use the ARSO President Forum platform NSBs CEOs and other relevant officers from African Governments, RECs, AUC, to engaging on strategic matters aimed to strengthening the National, Regional and Continental Quality Infrastructure in Africa. Objective The main objective of the ARSO President Forum is to have a three day forum to review the ARSO programmes and discuss Strategies for the implementation of the programmes and resource mobilisation. The specific objectives include: 1. Share in the benefits of standardisation within the ARSO membership 2. Role of ARSO toward Strengthening the National Standard Bureaus 3. Review the ARSO Membership and strategies for engaging members and non-members alike for membership mobilisation. 4. Collaboration with key partners in quality Infrastructure operating on African continent including the SQAM in RECs Impetus of the ARSO President Forum With the increasing globalization of markets, standards have become critical to ensuring access to export markets as Standards and Conformity Assessment are the pillars that underpin the global trading system.

3 In this respect, the significant challenges associated with trade liberalization are emerging as priorities for developing countries especially in Africa. As a result, this has significantly raised the profile of the need for a well-coordinated Quality Infrastructure in Africa to ensure participation in the global trading system. It is acknowledged that many developing countries in Africa face significant standardization challenges, including inability to adequately participate in international standards development and lack of the basic technical infrastructure for conformity assessment activities. This makes it impossible for them to effectively participate in global trading activities, becoming signatories to international agreements, developing a strong base for sustainable economic development and slowing the process of Africa s quest for deeper integration into the Global system. Many African countries are increasingly recognising that collaborative actions and regional approaches are critical to achieving their development goals. The benefits from pursuing regional integration are myriad, including: i) reaping economies of scale or other efficiencies by acting collectively in the pursuit of common objectives to increase local supply capacity and improve access to markets; ii) integrated or harmonized treatment of trans-boundary issues such as trade, regulatory frameworks and policies, regional infrastructure and other cross border issues; and iii) management of shared natural resources. These solutions are particularly relevant for the many African countries that have small economies, small populations or are land-locked. Countries, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and specialized regional institutions which are the institutional building blocks of the continental integration process, as well as regional development organizations are developing strategic regional frameworks and building capacity to pursue regional integration across various regions. The general consensus is that regional and continental integration and cooperation is, perhaps, the most appropriate way of improving the low levels of intra-african trade as well as international trade. This has resulted into a growing demand to scale up International, continental and regional solutions with a greater focus on mainstreaming regional issues in national planning, regional infrastructure and the missing link, the economic integration. The development of effective Quality Infrastructure in Africa is therefore at the centre of African Integration agenda and Africa s integration into the global trading systems. The African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) is the focal point for standardization and conformity assessment in Africa.

4 Since the early 1960s, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has encouraged African states to combine their economies into sub-regional markets that would ultimately form one Africa-wide economic union. Within the OAU, various resolutions and declarations adopted by the AU Heads of State Summits Since the Algiers in September 1968, in Addis Ababa in August 1970 and May 1973, Libreville July 1977 all calling for the need for the economic integration of the Continent and African Common Market. In 1980 the OAU Extraordinary Summit adopted the Lagos Plan of Action as a major step towards the goal of integration. In June 1991 OAU Heads of State and Government signed the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. By breaking with the market approach to integration in Africa, the Abuja Treaty marked a watershed in the history of African experience with integration. With its emphasis on the development of the continent's productive capacity as a pre-requisite for increased intra- African trade, the Treaty shifted Africa's priorities and objectives. The Treaty aimed to develop and diversify Africa's productive base by focusing on agriculture, mining and industry so as to increase locally-produced goods and services which will later give rise to more intra-african trade flows. ARSO membership is drawn from African countries through their National Bureaus of Standards and currently ARSO has 35 member States (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, New State of Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The Call for ARSO membership mobilization is a key objective of the ARSO President Forum and has been at the centre of various African Union recommendations: The African Union within the OAU Lagos Plan of Action of 1980 under CHAPTER VII, Trade and finance, Trade, Intra-African trade expansion, paragraph 250 (k and I) had directed that : (k) membership of the African Regional Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO), which presently comprises only 19 countries, should be expanded to include all Member States by the end of ARSO should be entrusted with the task of establishing African regional standards for all products of interest to intra-african trade. If need be, ECA should be requested to offer the necessary advice and assistance;

5 (l) trade fairs and publicity campaigns should be held at least annually at the national sub-regional and regional levels, with particular emphasis on publicising the quality of African products. In this respect, ARSO should operate a regional certification marking scheme with a view to certifying the quality of and promoting African products. A permanent "Buy African Goods" campaign should also be vigorously launched under the aegis of OAU and ECA within the framework of the all-africa trade fairs, starting with the next fair to be held in Participation in these fairs should be confined solely to African countries with a view to promoting African products. The African Union in the OAU Abuja Treaty of 1991 Establishing the African Economic Community under Chapter XI on Standardization and Measurement Systems whose Article 67 set the Common Policy, Member States agreed to: (a) adopt a common policy on standardization and quality assurance of goods and services among Member States; (b) undertake such other related activities in standardization and measurement systems that are likely to promote trade, economic development and integration within the Community; and (c) strengthen African national, regional and continental organizations operating in this field. The AU Ministers of Trade, Customs and Immigration in Rwanda 2004 under Resolution 79, the AU Ministers while noting the effort so far deployed by ARSO to reengineer itself, accordingly agreed to, among others, (i) encourage country membership and participation in ARSO and its activities and urge AU Member States (a) to commit adequate resources to Standardisation, Conformity (b) (c) Assessment and related matters, promote the development of a quality culture in their respective Member Countries, apply the principles of harmonisation of standards as laid down in the WTO/TBT and SPS Agreements. At the 17 th Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI 17), Egypt, 2006 The African Union through the member States Ministers of Industry during the 17 th Conference of the African Ministers of Industry (CAMI 17) adopted paragraph 45, item C of the Conclusion of its Intergovernmental Expert Group Report which stated that:

6 We reiterate the commitments of our governments and call on our development partners to urgently strengthen African Standardisation and Conformity Assessment infrastructure and increase standards harmonisation in Africa, both at the national, regional and continental levels, based on UNIDO recognised experience in Africa (i.e. UEMOA quality programme). This should be done in cooperation with regional and international technical agencies, such as ARSO, ISO, ILAC, IAF and OIML. The Au Conference of Ministers of Trade (CAMoT), 9th Ordinary Session, December 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia onn the ARSO Annual Report 2014 resolved that:. (i) All AU Member States that are currently not Members of ARSO should endeavour to attain membership by the year 2017; (ii) ARSO and other Pan African Standards organisations to refer to the year 2017 as African year of Quality Infrastructure; (iii) The AUC and ARSO should increase awareness and mobilize all stakeholders on the role of Quality Infrastructure; (iv) The AUC and Quality Infrastructure Institutions should assess the status of Quality Infrastructure in Africa; and develop a Strategic Plan on Quality Infrastructure in Africa. And on the Establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (iv) The AUC and ARSO to develop a work plan on Quality Infrastructure to be submitted to the Senior Officials meeting;

7 ARSO membership is drawn from African countries through their National Bureaus of Standards and currently ARSO has 35 member States (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, New State of Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Hence the President Forum seeks to indulge all the African countries in developing an effective standardisation system in Africa to facilitate African Integration Agenda