ECOMARK AFRICA (EMA)

1.African producers to access local and international markets for sustainably produced goods and services. 2.Enabling African economies to adapt and contibute to the mitigation of climate change 3. Certification of goods and services to the African ecolabling standards 4. Promoting particular Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to get certified and access niche markets. Implementation of sustainable standards will ensure that goods and services are produced by organizations that comply with the principles of being economically viable , environmentally sound and socially acceptable. Sustainable consumption and production relate very well with the aspect of environment in the sustainability pillar. The standards have 4 performance levels of Bronze ,silver, old and platinum depending on the compliance of the set indicators It is clear that current consumption and production trends are the main causes of environmental degradation in Africa and shifting to sustainable consumption and production (SCP) decouples development from environmental degradation and resource depletion . SCP constitutes a turning point in the way sustainable development is tackled as it does not only address the question of what and where pollutant emissions and environmental degradation take place but also why those are generated. The SCP approach involves analyzing the way companies produce and consume goods and services, identifying how and why those patterns of production and consumption contribute to the environmental degradation and the generation of environmental and health risks due to chemical pollution and implementing technical, policy, market, economic and information mechanisms through which shifting to SCP. Implementing SCP involves a range of actions such as cleaner production, energy efficiency, sound chemical management, sustainable public procurement, eco-labelling, sustainable lifestyles, education for sustainable consumption, etc. i. Registration of EMA at the EUIPO and WIPO ii. Development of an EMA business plan and its approval by the Advisory Committee iii. Convening of a key stakeholders meeting for the sectors covered by the 4 sustainability standards. iv. Development of the ARSO Conformity Assessment Programme (ACAP) a Conformity Assessment Programme for certification of goods and services that comply to the requirements of the various sustainability standards. v. Development of Rules and Procedures for the ACAP. vi. Benchmarking the EMA certification scheme with other Certification schemes with a view to working closely and issue dual certification marks vii. Identified 5-member state countries that will participate in the EMA pilot project. viii. Build capacity among Certification Bodies, Laboratories, Producers and Stakeholders to allow the certification Trial in 5 countries ix. Development of training materials, training of trainers and selection of participants for building capacity in the 5 countries that will result in certification to EMA standards x. Develop Capacity of Cleaner Production Centres (CPCs) to identify firms to award Ecolabels. Identification of at least three products/ services to undergo eco-Labeling auditing and certification xi. Certify 3 companies in any of the 4 sustainable standards with an Ecomark and link the same to European market. xii. Development of IT platform needed to control processes and sharing of information and experiences with stakeholders The programme is in the pilot phase and being implemented in 8 African countries namely Zimbambwe Cameroon, Rwanda,Ghana , Kenya, Nigeria,, Mauritius and Senegal. presently we are building capacity in terms of training the industry and national standards Bodies and Accreditaion bodies on implementation and auditing for comformance to the 4 sustainabilty standards Its expected to enhance intra Africa trade as well as international trade thereby creating wealth and jobs for the participating countries and Africa at large especially now that we are moving towards implementing the Continental Free Trade Area. The Programme is expected to be implemented in other countries inthe next 5 years As has been earlier observed of the 53 member states of Africa only are participating due to available funds from GIZ whose contact on the project ends in August 2018.The annual budget for the pilot project upto August 2018 is 400,000 euros approximately 500,00 USD for only 4 standards .By 31st August when the contract with GIZ will end ,wee sshall have been able to build capacity of interns of implementing the standards as well as training auditors for these standards and certifying only 3 companies. There will be need to carry out surveillance audits on these firms as well as certify more firms and further bring on board other sustainable standards With more support,the project can be replicated and capacity built in other member states Further the can prioritize other sustainable standards in the Energy, Leather textile sectors etc just to mention a few. We shall be very grateful to any interested stakeholders and they are very much welcome for continued support and capacity building to the project in order to realize its objectives.