The Trade Hub is working closely with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to implement activities for the Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Standardization (SADCSTAN) and the Zambia Bureau of Standards.
The Standards Alliance is a public-private partnership between the ANSI and USAID designed to assist developing countries in effectively implementing their commitments under the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade agreement. ANSI and the Trade Hub have agreed to implement the following activities in conjunction with SADCSTAN:
- Development of the SADCSTAN website by December 2014.
- Workshop on Referencing Standards in Technical Regulations and workshop on Code of Good Practice for Developing Standards on November 10-14, 2014 in coordination with both ANSI and the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- Regional Workshop on Code of Good Practice in conjunction with the South African Bureau of Standards, date TBD.
- Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) Workshop and meeting of the ISO National Mirror Committee.
The Trade Hub’s collaboration with ANSI helps to increase understanding of the WTO’s Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) principles in the region, to encourage transparency in the development and alteration of technical regulations, and to improve implementation of the TBT Agreement’s Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards, with the larger goal of promoting trade and economic development.
On the photo: In January 2014, the Trade Hub organized a benchmarking visit to the United States by designated WTO TBT Enquiry Point officials from Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia. Here one of the delegates meets with a representative of ANSI.
