SSNBS holds workshop on draft SPS framework

JUBA – South Sudan’s National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) held a one-day workshop Friday to review a draft East African Community (EAC) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Legal Framework and Measures.

The workshop included experts from both the public and private sectors, said Glorai Nyoka Joseph, Executive Director of SSNBS. Its goal was to provide feedback on the draft framework.

“It is important for us to be all here today for this consultative meeting to give our input on how we are supposed to represent our country in the EAC,” Nyoka said at the workshop’s opening.

The workshop will help shape the final draft, she added.

“I hope we will come out with fruitful input that we would present our position to the EAC concerning the safety of South Sudan and also concerning the safety and quality of product we produce in the country,” she said.

Kuol Ayom Biar, Acting Director General of Planning, Research & Statistics of SSNBS, said increasing awareness around food safety concerns makes SPS measures a critical topic.

“So, it is a program that has been developed by a taskforce from all partner states and that document needs to see comments from national institutions related to these issues such as the Ministry of Agriculture and National Bureau of Standards,” Ayom said.

The South Sudan National Bureau of Standards, established in 2012, oversees standards implementation, testing, inspection, market surveillance, certification, accreditation, and other technical regulations.