Dakar, 21 January 2016 – The WAQSP, through its NationalTechnical Coordination Unit (NTCU), held in Dakar on 21 January 2016, a promotional day for the NS productcertification Mark, the national product certification scheme.

The objectives were to inform interested parties on the procedure for awarding the national product Mark coined “national certificate of conformity to Senegalese standards (NS)”, to raise awareness on product certification, and more importantly to stress the importance of this Mark for consumer protection and the promotion of exports of Senegalese products. The meeting was chaired by Mr. MamadouDiop, General Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Mines of Senegal, representing the Minister, Mr. Aly NgouilleNdiaye. He shared the table of authorities with Mr. Victor Djemba, Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal, Mr. Clemens Schroeter, Chief of the Economics, Trade and Governance Section of the Delegation of the EuropeanUnion (EU) in Senegal, and Mr. BaramaSarr, Director General of the Senegalese Standards Association (ASN), Focal Point and Chairperson of the National Monitoring Committee (NMC) of the WAQSP. Mr. AboubacryBaro, National Technical Coordinator (NTC) of the WAQSP, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the West African Accreditation System (SOAC) and Mr. Marcel Gbaguidi from the Regional Coordination Unit (RTCU) of the WAQSP based in Abuja,Nigeria also attended this meeting.

In front of representatives of local government authorities responsible for trade, industry and health, consumer associations, private employers, the media, to name a few, Mr. Diop said that by promoting the NS product certification Mark , the EU and UNIDO enacted the will of the President of the Republic of Senegal, His Excellency MackySall. He thus solemnly conveyed the acknowledgements of the latter and the gratitude of the Government of Senegal. As he recalled, “Aware of the challenges, the Government of Senegal had requested UNIDO, through the WAQSP, to support the country in defining its National Quality Policy, in order to mobilize the appropriate resources for the development of a National Quality Infrastructure, including the development of a product certification scheme, through the NS product certification Mark [Editor’s note]”. He also urged the ASN, in his dual capacity as National Focal Point agency for the WAQSP and national body for product certification, responsible for managing the NS Mark, “to further develop this activity that will provide support to flagship projects of the Emerging Senegal Plan” designed to guide the country’s public policy until 2035.Pursuing, Mr. Djemba reiterated UNIDO’s commitment to support developing countries like Senegal to establish a sound quality infrastructure, includingproduct certification schemes that would allow them to better integrate international trade. He recalled that “in the context of free trade where tariff and non-tariff barriers are challenged, the quality of goods and services has become a determinant of the competitiveness of enterprises.” But, as he insisted, “this goes hand in hand with the increased recognition of the competency of conformity assessment bodies,particularly product certification bodies [Editor’s note]”. These observations were confirmed by Mr. Schroeterwho stressed that certification has become a matter of survival for economies of developing countries as “the ever increasing demands of consumers, the increased awareness of authorities on the need to protect their populations and their environment, as well as to comply to WTO requirements, including compliance to agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade or Sanitary and PhytoSanitary measures.” In cognizance of this, hesaid, the EU decided to grant the WAQSP, which covers the 15 ECOWAS countries and Mauritania, a grant of 7, 9 billion CFA over 4 years to support the implementation of the Regional Quality Policy (ECOQUAL) – one of the main outcomes of which is the establishment of the ECOWAS Product Certification Mark. In order to reach its maturity, the regional Mark needs to rely on national product certification bodies of the region, such as the ASN in SenegalFollowing the official speeches, Mr. Baro and Mr. Sarrgave two presentations, respectively on accreditation and certification. These enabled participants to betterunderstand these topics. The ensuing discussion withthe audience provided them with the opportunity for better insights but also to express their concerns and understand the role expected from them in the promotion of the NS Mark.

For Mr. Baro, the existing setup is encouraging considering the fact that, by relying on inter-country synergies, about forty accredited laboratories in the region now make it possible to achieve reliable basic tests on food products, indispensable for export. These accredited laboratories, whose competence is internationally recognized, prove a major asset for the development of a recognized

national product certification scheme, including the NS Mark; indeed, test certificates issued by laboratories are a crucial element of any product certification system. These certificates must therefore be beyond dispute to strengthen the credibility of the scheme and the associated national certificate of conformity. In the end, this workshop is the starting point for the revitalization of product certification activities in Senegal which are still at infancy state – only a single NS certificate has been awarded to date: raw peanut oil. In the future, the ASN intends to develop as a priority the certification of drinking water and reinforcement steel, two national priorities within the framework of consumer protection.