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Distr.
LIMITED
ECA/MULPOC/tUSArA/P'I'A/IU/8, 14 February 1979 ..~
ENGLISH
Original: FRENCH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Third Meeting o£ the Intergovernmental Negotiating Team on the Treaty £or the Establishment o£ a Pre£erential Trade Area in Eastern and Southern A£rica Addis Ababa. 27 February - 5 March 1979
DRAFT PROTOCOL ON STANDARDIZATION AND QUALITY CONTROL IN THE PREFERENTIAL TRADE AREA FOR T!{E EASTERN AND
SOUTHERN AFRICAN STATES
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES
,
• Mindful of paragraph of that, article of the Tr~ty on the
\, Establishment of a Preferential' Trade' Area
:til
Eastern and Southern Africa wherein provision is made for a protocol to that treaty specil'ying the steps.to 'be talcen to promote co-opena tdon among the parties to the treaty with
re~d
to standardization and quality control, agree as follows:
ARTICLE I Interpreta tion In this protocol,
"Council" means the Council of Ministers established by Article the Treaty.
"Member State" means a State Member of the Preferential Trade Area lar,
-;'~ .. ~
Eastern and Southern Africa.
"Preferential Trade Area" means the Preferential Trade Area lor Eastern and Southern A£rica.
"PI'A" means the Preferential Trade Area.
"Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the Preferential Trade Area lar th,e Eastern and Southern African States.
"Tec1;:;>ical Committee" means the Technical Comrni ttee made up of experts in standardization and quality control hom the countries in the Preferential ,Trade Area.
"Ir\ternational standards"means the standards re:cognized by the International Organization for Standardization.
"ARSO" means the African Regional Standardization Organization.
:. r ",', '_ . " .-' _- : '\,' - . - _ c,_
"Nat'ional' institutions for standardization'" means' all national, public ar semi-public bodies, whether already in existence or in the process of being
, ,
established, whose main concern is with standardization or quality control in the countries members of the Preferential Trade Area.
ECAfiutPOC/LtiSA'rAfrrA/III/8 Page 2
ARTICLE 2
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Common polisr 'with regard to standardization and quality con,trol
•
The IIl!'!mber ,States undertake ~adually to Finalize a to standardization, quality control and, quality Labe Ls , engage in standardization activities aimed at promoting Trade Area.
ARTIr::LE 3
common pOlicy with regard They also undertake to trade in the l'r'eFerential
Co-operation in standardization The
merm,er
States -shall~(!.)
Facilitate the exchange of inf'ornation and experience in the techniques of standardiiation'and shall strive to ensw-ethat the eonsumer is protected by promoting and undertaking activities relating to standardization.(b) Co-ordinate and integrate separate Facilities already in existence and shall develop their potential For research, testing, sizing, calibration and control and For naking and applying standards speciFications.
(c) Co-ordinate their positions with regard to the selection, recognition, adaptation and application of international standards in so far as the needs of the PreFerential Trade Area are concerned.
(~) As the need Por it arises and as proposed by the Technical Committee,' Formulate and publish subregional standards in co~dinat10nwith the Af'rican
,', ."., Regional Standardization Organization.
,(~) Promote and support ef'f'ective individual and/or collective participation in the various international activities carried out in respect of standardization with a view to ensuring that constant improvements are nade in the standardization
,
techniques in use in the l'r'eferential Trade Areil,'
ARTICLE 4
Standardization and quality control The member States shall:
(a) Publish and apply them uniform procedures for controlling standardization and quality in their respective countries to merchandise traded in the Preferential Trade Area;
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ECA/MULPOC/LUSAKA/PrA/III/2·-- Page 3
(.£) Adopt and apply similar labeling systems and sa£ety codes in the handling and Shipment of cargo traded in the Preferential Trade Area;
(~) Agree to standardize all aids to the recognition and ovement of
merchandise and its containers (labels, transit documents, etc.) in the spirit of the Protocol on the Simplification and Harmonization of Trade Documents and
Procedures wi thin the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern AFrica.
ARTICLE 6
Administrative procedures oF standardization and quality control
The member States shall:
(!!)
Bimplify the administrative procedures involved in controlling the standardi9ation and quality of the merchandise traded in the spirit of the"Protocol
J
on the Simplification and Harmonization of Trade Documents and Procedure !".(.£) Use uniform evaluation documents and documents for noting the qualitati~results of controls.
ARTICLE 7
Insti tut iona I arrangement
(!.) The member States agree to set up a technical committee for studying all questions relating to the standardization of products in the Preferential Trade Area.
(.£) The Technical Committee shall .work in close co-operation with .national institutions responsible for standardization in their respective countries.
(c) The Technical Committee shall be responsible for making recommendations to the Council of Ministers with a view to the implementation of the provisions of articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Protocol and for seeing tha t the Council's decisions in respect of standardization and quality control in the Preferential
Trade Area are implemented.
