The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat is convening the meetings of SADC Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structures, in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa on 23-27 March 2026. The SADC TBT Cooperation Structures are established under Article 11 of the TBT Annex to SADC Protocol on Trade for a progressive elimination of TBT amongst the Member States and between SADC and other Regional and International Trading Blocks.
The overall objective of the meetings is to facilitate dialogue between Member States on issues pertaining to Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation, and Metrology (SQAM) matters, in support to implementation of the SADC Free Trade Area which was established in 2008. The SADC Free Trade Area is to promotes regional economic integration among SADC Member States by eliminating import tariffs and reducing non-tariff barriers on goods. The agreement seeks to enhance trade liberalization, industrialization, and poverty reduction in the SADC region.
The specific objectives are to provide updates on the implementation of annual work plans of the SADC TBT Cooperation Structures and national Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation, and Metrology institutions in the Member States, to validate the proposed clauses to be incorporated in the TBT Annex to the SADC Protocol on Trade, to endorse and submit for approval the proposed draft regional Quality Infrastructure Strategy and to agree on the matters to be escalated to the SADC Committee of Ministers of Trade.
These will strengthen the role and responsibilities of the Regional Quality Infrastructure to support Member States in the implementation of SADC, Tripartite and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreements
The meetings will be attended by representatives from all SADC Member States, working in institutions responsible for trade, Technical Regulations, Legal, Scientific and Industrial Metrology, Standardization, Accreditation, Private sector, International Cooperating Partners, and the SADC Secretariat. Alongside the meetings, companies and individuals who successfully participated at 2025/26 edition of SADC Quality Award competition will be receiving their prizes comprising trophies and/or Certificates.
