Trademark Africa has emphasized the critical need for harmonized food safety and plant health standards across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to eliminate technical barriers hindering smooth cross border trade in the region.
Ms. Anthe Vrijilandt, Director of Strategy and Partnership at Trademark Africa, highlighted the persistent delays, spoilage of goods, and increased trade costs arising from fragmented standards and regulatory requirements at West African borders during a three day forum held in Accra this week.
She expressed concern that while West Africa, particularly Ghana, produces food surpluses, inconsistent regulations prevent these goods from reaching neighbouring markets. Vrijilandt cited examples of perishable goods being held up at borders for weeks due to duplicative testing and standards that fail to align across member states.
“You cannot get the food easily across borders because of those issues. They’re stopped at the borders, sometimes even for two, three weeks. Now if you leave bananas for three weeks at the border, you tell me what happens to them,” she said during the forum organized in partnership with the ECOWAS Commission.
The Trademark Africa official stressed the importance of building mutual trust between member states. She argued that regional trade can only flourish through either mutual recognition of tests conducted in one country or the adoption of identical standards by all ECOWAS states. Without such trust mechanisms, cross border commerce remains severely constrained.
“Trade is about trust. I trust your bananas, I trust your tomatoes. If it’s not the case, then we cannot trade,” Vrijilandt added, underscoring the fundamental challenge facing regional integration efforts.
The Abidjan Lagos Corridor, which links Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, remains West Africa’s busiest economic route. It handles more than 70 percent of ECOWAS Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 50 million tonnes of freight annually. Yet despite its economic significance, the corridor suffers from lengthy delays and high transaction costs that undermine its potential.
According to the World Bank, trade compliance costs in Sub Saharan Africa rank among the highest globally. Intra African trade often proves two to three times more expensive than trading outside the continent due to cumbersome border controls and regulatory divergence. These inefficiencies discourage regional commerce and force businesses to look elsewhere for markets.
Research from the African Development Bank (AfDB) paints an even starker picture. Studies show that customs and administrative procedures can account for 30 to 40 percent of total transit time for goods moving across African borders. Such delays particularly affect perishable agricultural products, leading to significant losses for farmers and traders.
Mr. Midaye Koissi, Principal Programme Officer for Quality and Standards at the ECOWAS Commission, identified duplication of quality checks as a major impediment to trade. He explained that goods often undergo identical testing procedures in multiple countries, creating unnecessary costs and delays.
“The product must be tested in Ghana first. And when it’s reached Côte d’Ivoire, the product must be also tested. That brings duplication that costs money for the traders and makes goods stay at the borders,” Koissi noted during panel discussions at the forum.
The ECOWAS official revealed that the regional body has established a dedicated committee working on regional standard harmonization. Once approved, these harmonized standards would allow goods certified in one member state to receive automatic recognition across the entire region, eliminating redundant testing requirements.
The partnership between ECOWAS and Trademark Africa, Koissi explained, will leverage East Africa’s successful experience in trade facilitation to design and implement an actionable harmonization plan. East Africa has made significant progress in reducing border crossing times and streamlining customs procedures through regional cooperation.
According to data from Trademark Africa’s operations in East Africa, their interventions have reduced cargo transit times by 16.5 percent and border crossing times by up to 70 percent in some corridors. These achievements demonstrate the potential benefits that West Africa could realize through similar harmonization efforts.
The Abidjan Lagos Corridor Sanitary and Phytosanitary/Technical Barriers to Trade Forum attracted delegates from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and other regional institutions. Participants discussed standards and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) challenges along the corridor, which handles nearly two thirds of West Africa’s trade.
Dr. Andrew Edewa, Director of SPS and Standards at Trademark Africa, emphasized that the forum’s interventions will create economic opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), women traders, and subregional businesses. He stressed that awareness of existing standards remains crucial for businesses seeking to access markets.
“Without knowing and meeting these standards, products cannot move across borders. Capacity building is the next focus, helping businesses implement standards and obtain a Certificate of Conformity, which proves their goods meet requirements and are accepted in various markets,” Edewa explained.
The forum forms part of broader efforts to align national policies and regulations with ECOWAS and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols. The AfCFTA aims to create a single continental market for goods and services, but its success depends heavily on addressing the technical barriers that currently fragment African markets.
Anthony Morrison, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Agribusiness, underscored the private sector’s role in ensuring compliance with national and regional standards, including those under AfCFTA and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS). He noted that adherence to over 600 approved standards across ECOWAS and the African Union remains essential for market access, product quality, and competitiveness.
The three day forum concluded with plans to develop a Corridor SPS/Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Action Roadmap covering 2025 to 2027. This roadmap will guide efforts to improve border coordination, harmonize standards, and strengthen quality and SPS systems across the region.
Participants drafted actionable recommendations for implementing AfCFTA’s annexes on reducing and eliminating technical barriers to trade. These recommendations focus on promoting cooperation, transparency, and harmonizing standards while safeguarding human, animal and plant health to ensure food safety and prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
The initiative also established a framework to guide ECOWAS and East African Community (EAC) collaboration on trade standards and SPS systems. This South South cooperation model allows West Africa to learn from East Africa’s successes while adapting solutions to local contexts and challenges.
For small scale traders, particularly women who dominate cross border agricultural trade in West Africa, harmonized standards could prove transformative. Many currently lose substantial portions of their goods to spoilage during extended border delays, eroding profits and discouraging trade.
The ECOWAS region has long struggled to realize the full potential of its economic integration agenda. While the bloc has made progress in reducing tariffs and establishing common external tariffs, non tariff barriers like inconsistent standards continue undermining these achievements.
Food safety and plant health standards represent particularly sensitive areas because they directly affect public health. Countries naturally want to protect their populations from unsafe products. However, experts argue that this protection can be achieved through mutual recognition agreements that maintain safety while eliminating duplication.
Vrijilandt emphasized that the forum aimed to produce actionable solutions rather than discussions with no follow through. She noted that previous initiatives had sometimes failed to translate plans into concrete improvements at border posts, frustrating traders who saw little practical change.
The success of the harmonization effort will depend on political commitment from member states, adequate funding for implementation, and sustained engagement with the private sector. Technical committees must translate framework agreements into practical procedures that customs officials and traders can easily understand and apply.