CONTENTS

Missions and Objectives of Accreditation Bodies

Type of Conformity Assessment Body and Mechanism to
assure Competence
Example of quality approaches for compliant products

Review of accreditations issued by the region

Food safety, accreditation, perspectives

Missions and Objectives of Accreditation Bodies
 Assess the
COMPETENCE of
Calibration and testing
UNIQUE laboratories,
national or regional certification bodies and
accreditation body
inspection bodies

Participate in the
Passport for the
marketing of
ACCESS of West
African products HEALTHY AND
and services to SAFE PRODUCTS
regional and on the West African
international market.
MARKETS
Type of Conformity Assessment Body and Mechanism to assure
Competence

testing African
laboratories Accreditation
Supervision

International
Inspection
Their competence are oversight of the
accreditation of
body guaranteed by laboratories and
ACCREDITATION inspection bodies

International
Certification People (auditor, plumber, etc.)
supervision of the
Body of System (ISO 9001- ISO 14001, etc.) accreditation of
Product (water, soft drink, etc.) certification
bodies
Organization of Accreditation in West Africa

Cape Verde
The Gambia
ECORAS
Liberia
Sierra Leone

These countries are free to contact

GhaNAS, NiNAS or SOAC to cover their
accreditation needs.
Example of quality approaches for compliant products
Situation A Situation B
Developed countries with an Developing countries:
effective and proven
• Insufficient number of laboratories,
conformity assessment
inspection and certification bodies, lack of
system: accredited
equipment/
laboratories, accredited
certification and inspection • a limited number of accredited Conformity
bodies, the accreditation Assessment Bodies, no Accreditation Body
body is a signatory to the (AB), or the AB is preparing to sign Mutual
ILAC and IAF mutual Recognition Agreements for the worldwide
recognition agreements, acceptance of certificates issued by the
strong technical regulatory Conformity Assessment Bodies it accredits.
regime, etc.

Analyses Inspection Certification Tested /

certified,
inspected
once
accepted
everywhere
 Some approaches to guarantee compliant
products to the consumer

1Certification volontaire /
Mandatory certification:

Every product manufacturer seeks certification (product certification)

against a technical regulation (mandatory certification) or a standard
(voluntary certification).
This mechanism may not correspond to an emergency situation (as the
development of a certification system takes time).
However, it guarantees that the final products will comply with the technical
regulation or standard accepted in the country or region
2 Aware of the weaknesses of their conformity assessment
mechanism, in case B, several States use VoC (verification of
conformity).
It is a pre-export verification carried out by accredited inspection
structures supported by a strong network of accredited laboratories
worldwide.
The purpose of this mechanism is to limit the entry of non-compliant
products into the national/regional territory.
Some advantages of this approach
• avoid having to bear the costs of destruction or manage destruction
with the supplier once the non-compliant product is already in the
country.
• Prevent non-compliant products from entering the country.
 Risks of non-compliant products for the consumer
Mitigation mechanism
VoC approach Certification of local
producers
(mandatory or
Compliance is voluntary
verified BEFORE certification)
the goods are
exported. Certification issued
This approach only if the operator
ensures that only works IN
good quality COMPLIANCE with
products are applicable standards
shipped.
Allows shipment of
compliant products Allows to tend
by foreign towards the
suppliers quality of locally
manufactured
products
 Review of accreditations issued by the region
SOAC

Laboratories accredited according to the Breakdown of accredited laboratories by

standards country
Togo 1
ISO15189 2 Senegal 3
Mali 1
Guinea 1
ISO IEC 17025V2005 10
Côte d’Ivoire 8
Burkina Faso 2
ISO IEC 17025V17 6 Benin 2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Breakdown of Laboratories by technical field

Cotton fiber quality 2
To mid-June 2020
Building materials 1
Metallic materials 1
• NiNAS 24 accredited laboratories
Medial Biology 2
Calibration 2 • SOAC 18 accredited laboratories
Agri‐food/Food Safety 9
Forensic Analysis 1 • GhaNAS 0 (new organism)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Food safety, accreditation, perspectives
Accreditation is present throughout the food safety chain
It does so along the entire food supply chain, from farm to fork, through food production,
processing and packaging, storage and transportation, to retail and food service, helping
to create levels of assurance in the supply chain.

1. Laboratories (testing & calibration)

2. Inspection bodies
3. Certification bodies

ECOWAS and UEMOA Regulations on Food Safety

• Regulation C/REG.21/11/10 harmonizing the structural framework and operational
rules on plant, animal and food safety in the ECOWAS region
• Regulation No. 007/2007/CM/UEMOA of 6 April 2007 on plant, animal and food safety
in UEMOA
1. Soil and product analysis
(laboratory)
2. Field and plant certification
(organic certification body -
GlobalGAP- product
certification, etc.).
3. Ground and air transport (ISO
9001 certification)
4. Quality control and regulation
(National / Regional
Inspection Services)

COMFORM Food product,

HEALTHY AND SAFE
 Agri‐Food Exporting / Accreditation Development Level

With €138 billion, the European

Union was the world's leading
exporter of agri-food products in
All Member States have an
2018.
accreditation body
6 out of the top 10 food exporting
recognised internationally
countries in the world are
by IAF and ILAC.
European. https://european‐accreditation.org/about‐
ea/who‐are‐we/
http://www.commodafrica.com/25‐09‐2019‐leurope‐
demeure‐le‐1er‐exportateur‐mondial‐de‐produits‐ agroalimentaires

https://www.alternatives‐economiques.fr/top‐10‐
pays‐exportateurs‐de‐produits‐agroalimentaires‐
milliards‐de‐dollars‐0105201476179.html

In Africa, an average of 30% of

In West Africa over the period 2006-
States without an accreditation
2010, exports of agricultural products
body and without an agreement to
represent only 10% of the region's
cover their needs in the field of
overall exports.
An average of 37% of
https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Croissanc internationally recognized
e_Agricole_en_Afrique_de_l%E2%80%99Ouest_‐
_Facteurs_d%C3%A9terminants_de_march%C3%A9_et_de_politique_‐_OSAN.pdf accreditation bodies
 Medical Biology Laboratories and Accreditation

791 accredited medical biology laboratories

for 66.5 MILLION inhabitants
https://www.cofrac.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/cofrac/Actualites/MAP_repartition_regionale‐mars2019.pdf

COVID-19.
Medical laboratories can be mobilized by States for diseases such as

States must be able to rely on accredited laboratories to reduce

the risk of non-compliant results.

Around TWENTY accredited

medical laboratories for 387
MILLION inhabitants
 ECOWASQuality
ECOWAS QualityInfrastructure
InfrastructureDiagram
Scheme

Community QUALITY
ECOWAS
Council (CQC) Commission

Community Committees
Regional TECHNICAL CONFORMITY
ACCREDITATION METROLOGY STANDARDS
REGLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT
System
Community Sub‐Committees

West African Forum for Testing

Cooperation in Accreditation
Certification
Assessment Committee of
national certification bodies ‐ Inspection
product

National structures with a regional vocation

ECOWAQ
CQC Executive Secretariat)
(ECOWAS Quality Agency: QCC
 ECOWAS Value Chain
Competitiveness
Programme
WACOMP/WACQIP
Mango
Cassava
NTIC
Textiles and Clothing
Emergencies of the moment related
to COVID-19
• Personal protective equipment
• Hydroalcoholic products
Merci
Thank
you