SADC Pushes to Reduce Trade Barriers and Strengthen Quality Standards
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat convened its Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structures meetings in Johannesburg from 23 to 27 March 2026, aimed at strengthening regional trade by addressing barriers that hinder the smooth movement of goods.
The meetings provided a platform to monitor the implementation of Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAM) programmes across Member States, while ensuring alignment with both regional and international standards.
Delivering the keynote address, Alexandra Ambrahams underscored the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), noting that it offers SADC enterprises access to a broader, unified African market and the potential to expand regional value chains.
However, she cautioned that these benefits would only be realised if the region effectively reduces technical barriers to trade, strengthens testing and certification capacity, and ensures that products comply with both continental and global quality standards.
She added that as Africa moves towards deeper economic integration, the need for harmonised standards, technical regulations and reliable conformity assessment systems is becoming increasingly critical.
Meanwhile, Dhunraj Kassee highlighted persistent challenges contributing to technical barriers in the region. These include misalignment between national, regional and international policies, limited awareness among decision-makers on the importance of quality infrastructure, inadequate development of such infrastructure, a shortage of skilled personnel, and insufficient financial resources.
On the sidelines of the meetings, winners of the 2025/26 SADC Quality Awards competition were honoured with trophies and certificates, recognising excellence in quality and standards across the region.
The annual TBT meetings drew participation from representatives of SADC Member States, including officials from institutions responsible for trade, technical regulation, legal frameworks, scientific and industrial metrology, standardisation, accreditation, as well as private sector stakeholders and international cooperating partners.
The engagements reaffirmed SADC’s commitment to enhancing regional integration by improving quality infrastructure and reducing trade barriers, thereby facilitating increased intra-African trade.
