The seventh meeting of the sub-committee on Standardization was held on 23rd June 2009 at COMESA Secretariat. The meeting was opened by Director of Invesmnet Pormotion and Private Sector Development (IPPSD) at the COMESA Secretariat Dr Chungu Mwila.

Dr Mwila emphasized the important role of the Standards in the facilitation of trade in the region. He went on to ay that in June this year, COMESA launched a Customs Union and he therefore expressed the need to develop more standards so that they contribute to the attainment of the objectives of the Customs Union.

The Director also informed the delegates that in the last few years, the activity relating to harminisation of standards had been slow. The main reason being that the member States had wanted the region to develop a mechanism for implementation of COMESA harmonized standards.

In this respect, COMESA has proposed a Mechanism which was deliberated upon in November 2008. He therefore hoped that during this meeting of the sub-committee, the mechanism would be adopted so that it could be sent to the Council of Ministers for adoption.

Dr Mwila assured the sub-committee of the Secretariat’s commitment to facilitate its (sub-committee) work.