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Although the East African Phytosanitary Information Committee (EAPIC) was formed in April 2006 with membership from three East African Countries (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), today Zambia is also a member and this membership is growing. COMESA fully supports EAPIC collaboration to cover all member States. EAPIC is developing national pest lists to promote international and intra-regional trade and to comply with IPPC guidelines. This effort fits well with COMESA?s Food and Agricultural Marketing Information system (FAMIS). It will also inform other ongoing efforts within the National Plant Protection Organizations. Plant pest information is important for cross-border trade and regional food security. Regular pest surveys, pest identifications, and harmonization of regional border inspection protocols will result in reduced spread of pests in the region thus contributing to increased food production and protection of the environment. The work of this committee has a strong link with COMESA Agricultural Marketing Promotion and Regional Integration Project (AMPRIP) through the SPS component. COMESA Secretariat would like to work closely to better utilize resources, create synergies and avoid duplication of efforts. Under the SPS component of AMPRIP, the Secretariat is carrying out several activities which include the following: (i) Human resource capacity building through training of experts from our Member States to understand and deal with SPS issues more effectively (ii) We have just completed the assessment of SPS laboratories and identified three laboratories which will serve as regional centers of excellence. The labs were approved by the COMESA Ministers of Agriculture during their recent meeting in Victoria, Seychelles. They are: a). The Veterinary Lab at the Central Veterinary Research Institute in Lusaka, Zambia, for Animal Health; b). The Food Technology Lab of Mauritius ?for Food Safety; c). The Plant Health Lab at KEPHIS Plant Quarantine Station in Nairobi, Kenya for Plant Protection. ? (iii) Harmonization of SPS measures in the COMESA region: Through AMPRIP, COMESA has already finalized the draft of the regional SPS legal framework that will guide member states on how to deal with SPS Measures in the region. Under the Food and Agricultural Marketing Information System, FAMIS, SPS is one of the major pillars of information to be provided to the business community to facilitate agricultural trade. COMESA would like to see a strong link with the Plant Pest lists being developed by EAPIC.

SPS Analysis for Agricultural Trade Commodities in the COMESA region