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Eco Mark Africa: Leveraging Green Trade Opportunities for African Producers Purity Karuga

Eco Mark Africa: Leveraging Green Trade Opportunities for African Producers Purity Karuga AEM Programme Coordinator 19 th October 2011, Addis Ababa. Overview. Challenges. UNECA: “Trade confined within the RECs appears to be less optimal than trade at the Africa wide level.

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Eco Mark Africa: Leveraging Green Trade Opportunities for African Producers Purity Karuga

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  1. Eco Mark Africa: Leveraging Green Trade Opportunities for African Producers Purity Karuga AEM Programme Coordinator 19th October 2011, Addis Ababa

  2. Overview

  3. Challenges • UNECA: “Trade confined within the RECs appears to be less optimal than trade at the Africa wide level. •  “Need to redouble efforts to harmonize community markets to create a larger Africa-wide marketplace” • Imposed standards can create barriers to trade •  Standards for Africa need to take into account specific local conditions • Climate Change poses a threat to the production systems especially of smallholders • Need to adapt African producers to the detrimental effects of climate change 1. UNECA 2010: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV – Enhancing Intra-African Trade

  4. Opportunities The Global Organic Market Reached USD 54.9 billion in 2009 1 SIPPO 2011: The organic market in Europe

  5. Excellent Export Potential for Sustainable African Products in International Markets • Since 1999, the global market for organic products more than tripled1 • The largest part of the turnover was in Europe (48%) and North America (48.1%)1 • The US and Europe combined constitute at least 50% of [conventional and organic] exports for a number of RECs, and more than 60% in many others2 1 Willer & Yuseffi-Menzler 2008: ÖkologischerLandbauweltweit 2 UNECA 2010: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV – Enhancing Intra-African Trade

  6. But Why (Only) Seek So Far Afield? • Between 2000 and 2007… • growth in intra-African trade outpaced the growth in Africa’s trade with the rest of the world by about 10% • Intra-REC exports in general registered an average growth rate of 15% • growth in intra-Africa exports was 25% UNECA 2010: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV – Enhancing Intra-African Trade

  7. Introduction to the EcoMark Africa: An opportunity for Africa • EMA credibly verifies the sustainability profiles of African products to make them more competitive in international markets and secure them improved market access at • national • regional and • international level. • Thus, EMA creates incentives for the shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns in Africa and supports adaptation to climate change. • EMA adheres to the WTO principle of non-discrimination and addresses the concerns of developing countries in Africa.

  8. Where Have We Come From? The African Eco-labelling Mechanism (AEM) as the pan-African political structure and technical framework will award the EcoMark Africa (EMA) label on the basis of a clear set of sustainability criteria.

  9. Implementation EMA – how will it work? • The EMA Standard shall consist of threshold criteria and indicators suitable for the African continent, aligning the three dimensions of sustainability in order to specifically address the challenges of climate change. • The standard will be designed in such a way that: • existing standard systems may be benchmarked against it • accredited certifiers may use it to certify companies. • In both cases, operators who fulfil the requirements of the EMA standards may use the EMAlabel. • To include a large number of African smallholders, the EMA will also develop a capacity building programme.

  10. Priority Sectors At a later stage, the scope of the AEM shall be expanded to additional sectors

  11. AEM Structure to Award the Eco Mark Africa

  12. Structure • Clear sets of Principles&Criteria • As generic as possible • Criteria on the following Principles are generic for the four sectors: • Legal Compliance • Social and Environmental Management Systems • Good Social Practice • As sector-specific as necessary • Criteria on sector-specific issues such as stock management for fisheries or soil management for agriculture and forestry

  13. Multi Stakeholder Involvement

  14. Partnerships Institutionalization of the AEM • Time frame: December 2009 – March 2013 • Partners: • AUC (African Union Commission) • ARSO(African Organisation for Standardisation) • ARSCP (African Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production) • UNEP(UN Environmental Programme) • RECs (African Regional Economic Communities) • UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organisation) • UNECA (UN Economic Commission for Africa) • GIZ (German Development Cooperation) • Commissioned and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) within the framework of its International Climate Initiative.

  15. Thank you for your attention! Please visit us at www.ecomarkafrica.com

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