Export Competitiveness: Standards and Certification

In the past few decades, changes in the patterns of global trade flows have enhanced the role of quality and standards in economic development. Increasingly developing countries, particularly those constrained by small internal markets and purchasing capabilities, are adopting export-led growth strategies oriented to diversify into manufacturing and higher-value agro-food exports, and integrating their producers into global production networks. Poor investment climate, trade protectionism, and small markets hamper that development, but an even bigger obstacle is the lack of the capacity to use and adopt standards, quality requirements, and technology to access global markets.

A Quick Guide to the National Quality System Institutions
Source: the World Bank

This is a succinct and useful introduction for policy makers working on building components of a country’s national standards system.

The SPS agreement, signed in 1995, sets out the principles that WTO members can use in establishing national standards for food safety and animal and plant health. This is a quick reference guide to SPS terminology and related capacity functions.

Source: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Developed by UNIDO and modified by the Standards Team at PRETR, the survey aims to help parctitioners assess standards-related needs at the firm level.

Action Plans For Capacity Building

Tanzania’s Agro-Food Trade and Emerging SPS Standards: Toward a Strategic Approach and Action Plan               
Author: Steven Jaffee, Spencer Henson, Mirvat Sewadeh, Patricia Pentney, Flora Musonda
Source:the Tanzania Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, March 30, the World Bank

Tanzania successfully responded to the challenges posed by the EU ban on its fish and fishery products during the late 1990s, and Tanzanian producers and exporters are beginning to adopt and benefit from higher international food safety and quality standards.

Uganda, Standards and Trade: Experience, Capacities, and Priorities (Part a, Part b)

Author: Steven Jaffee, Tom Deeb, Tim O’brien, Yolanda Strachan, Rose Kiggundu

Source: Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, January 2006, the World Bank

Uganda successfully responded to the challenges posed by the EU ban on its fish and fishery products during the late 1990s. In selected other areas, Ugandan producers and exporters are also beginning to adopt and benefit from higher international food safety and quality standards.

Vietnam Food Safety and Agricultural Health Action Plan
Source: East Asia and Pacific Region and Agriculture and Rural Development Department, February 2006, the World Bank

With rapidly growing exports in high-value commodities, Vietnam is taking efforts to address the sanitary and phytosanitary problems, and these efforts would reduce major losses to the national economy and contribute to rural poverty reduction.

Standards & SPS Capacity within Zambia and Their Impact on Trade

This report identifies where SPS and standards issues were currently constraining trade and then recommend areas where further in-depth work was required. 

A Survey of Government Agencies on Agro-food Standards-Related Capacity NeedsSource: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

The survey was based on the UNIDO survey of firms and was modified to help practitioners assess standards-related needs at the government level.

Author: Sompop Manarungsan, Jocelyn O. Naewbanij, Tanapat Rerngjakrabhet, el al

Source: Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper , 2005, the World Bank

This study surveys the sanitary, phytosanitary, and other market requirements of the major markets for Thai shrimp, fresh asparagus, and frozen green soybean exports and the compliance of the Thai exporters.

Author: Omar Aloui,Lahcen Kenny

Source: Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper, 2005, the World Bank

The harmonization of sanitary standards and the adoption of uniform procedures for certification system would contribute to the reduction in compliance costs. The Moroccan public and private sectors could provide more assistance with farmers’ technical requirements, and should be more involved with certification and the auditing process, and laboratory analysis.

Author: Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Source: Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper, 2005, the World Bank

This study assesses the level of SPS management capacity in the groundnut (peanut) subsector in Senegal. The author performed a cost/benefit analysis and found that the present value of the net benefit of production that meets standards is CFAF 138 billion for SONACOS’s groundnut cake and CFAF 92 billion for edible groundnuts.

Source: KenyaDiagnostic Trade and Integration Study, March 2005, the World Bank

The success story of Kenya’s fresh produce industry, and to a lesser extent the response to the challenges posed to Kenya’s exports of fish by food safety standards in international markets, illustrate how adopting food safety and agricultural health standards can serve as a catalyst for trade and an opportunity to redefine the industry’s comparative advantage.

Author: James C. Cato, W. Steven Otwel, Agnés Saborío Coze

Source: Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper , 2005, the World Bank

The Nicaraguan government agency for food safety and quality was recognized as the competent authority in promoting adapted to international food safety and quality standards, and the Nicaragua shrimp subsector successfully expanded exports to the European Union (EU), Japan, and the United States (US).

Donor Support for SPS Capacity Building: Taking Stock and Drawing Lessons

Author: Mirvat Sewadeh, Vicente Ferrer

Source: the World Bank, 2003

The review of donors projects shows that SPS capacity building efforts should preempt trade disruptions by carrying out “preventative” capacity building that focuses on sectors with high risk. Another key lesson is that SPS capacity building should generally address the capacities of both the public and the private sector.

Source: the World Bank

This short note aims to briefly discuss the issue of standards as a factor contributing to developing country competitiveness and shed light on some of the key issues that are often brought up in this context.

Author: J. Luis Guasch, Jean-Louis Racine, Isabel Sánchez, Makhtar Diop

Source : the World Bank, 2007

This book provides empirical evidence and guidelines for reform, and describes and evaluates the performance of a number of Latin American countries with respect to various components of the national quality system. The case studies on Mexico and Turkey illustrate the methodology of analysis for making a diagnosis and appropriate recommendations.

Author: Spencer Henson

This is a brief review about standard system, which include three components: regulations, rules and standards; institutions; technical, administrative and financial capacities.

Author: J. Christophe Bureau

This is a review about economics and political economy of standards, and the role of standards in the process of market integration, trade and economic development

Author: Steven Jaffee and Mirvat Sewadeh

Source: World Bank

The future trajectory of food safety, agricultural health, environmental and social standards will be driven by a complex of socio-economic, demographic, political and technical factors. Developing country suppliers need to closely track these developments and reflect them in their own commercial strategies and production practices.