Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States
to International Standards
95
In relation to exports of agricultural products, the government has undertaken significant efforts to
comply with SPS measures in order to boost exports, and has also benefited from technical assistance
programs to serve this objective. In 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture and IMC launched an Agriculture
Export Promotion Strategy with the objective of identifying strategic crops for agricultural exports and
developing a ten-year agricultural exports promotion plan. To enhance compliance with international
standards and SPS measures, the government has been working on enhancing the role of quality
assurance bodies in enforcing strict SPS standards for exports, in addition to launching the Pesticide
Residue Program (IMC, 2007). Another important step was to disseminate information on compliance to
exporters on the GOEIC website.
In 2004, Egypt benefited from a five-year technical assistance program by UNIDO, the “Farm to Fork”
Traceability Project for Agricultural Products. Funded by an Italian-Egyptian Debt-for-Development
Swap program, UNIDO established the Egyptian Traceability Centre for Agro-Industrial Exports
(ETRACE). ETRACE developed product-specific traceability manuals and trained more than 600 national
experts to make agro-industrial exports safer, more competitive, and compliant with stringent market
standards and regulations of the EU (UNIDO, 2011). Initial assistance focused on 11 products, involving
47,000 growers and about five million workers and over 100 processing and packing houses in the Nile
delta. Assistance was also given to the Plant Quarantine Department and to the National Pesticides
Database. ETRACE also assists food manufacturers and helps minimize the spread of contagious plant
and animal diseases through early detection while tracking the food chain, and improves supply-chain
management and efficiency (International Trade Forum, 2010). Given the substantial impact on the
development of Egypt’s agro-industrial sector, the project has been institutionalized into the Egyptian
“Agriculture and Agro-Industrial Technology Centre”, affiliated to the Technology Development Sector of
the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
6.2.2.4 Standards-Related Issues in Export Markets
Three main issues stand out as obstacles to Egyptian exports in general: certification, testing, and
labeling requirements. While EOS has established a comprehensive database of international standards
and incorporates in any requirements for a large number of sectors and with a high level of detailing, the
major obstacle for exporters is to ensure compliance with these standards in light of the existing quality
infrastructure. On the one hand, EOS has undertaken significant efforts to streamline and harmonize
standards according to international systems. Lack of de facto compliance has – however - been
reported by some agencies providing technical assistance to EOS while reviewing the Egyptian
standards in detail. Lack of de facto compliance with international standards represents therefore a
major hindrance not only for exporting firms, but also for firms with an export potential (especially
small and medium-size enterprises) for which it is more difficult to communicate with EU trade