Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Information Management Portal was launched this morning by the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr.
Alan Ganoo and the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr. Maneesh Gobin. The launching ceremony was held at the Caudan Arts Centre, Caudan Waterfront, in Port-Louis.
In his address, Minister Maneesh Gobin stated that the key benefit of the SPS portal is that it will enable the digitalisation of the work being carried out by the National Plant Protection Office, and pointed out that some 10 000 manual Phytosanitary Certificates are being issued each year.
The SPS will henceforth facilitate the application for the Phytosanitary Certificate, which is an important requirement for export of agricultural commodities, he said. He also announced that in a few weeks, the Livestock Division will be integrated on the system as well.
The Minister underlined that the SPS portal will harmonise trade in the region and affirmed that it will go a long way to facilitate trade in agricultural and livestock products.
As for Minister Alan Ganoo, he underlined that the SPS portal project reflects the vision of the Government to transform and modernise its services through digitalisation to provide more efficient services to the public.
He emphasised that the development of this online service is in line with the Governmental strategy to facilitate business trade. The business community, he stressed, will undoubtedly benefit from reduced bureaucracy, improved quality of service, and reduced cost of doing business.
On that score, he expressed gratitude to the EU for the support being provided to SADC member states to promote regional integration and enhance their participation in international trade through the TRF.
According to the Minister, the support of EU has played a critical role in promoting intra SADC trade and SADC trade with the EU. SADC member states have been taking advantage of the facility to build capacity and strengthen competitiveness, he said.
He indicated that besides the SPS portal, a number of other projects have been implemented, namely: the development of a central scanning room for customs, the establishment of a humidity metrology laboratory, a market intelligence analysis to promote export of Mauritius products in the SADC region, training on illicit drugs detection and investigative surveillance techniques for customs officials and border agencies, amongst others.
Mr. Alan Ganoo added that the Ministry has been providing through projects such as SADC TRF, vital support to key institutions to upgrade their facilities, improve their IT infrastructure and build capacity of their officers and will continue to facilitate this process.
As for the Chargé d’Affaires of the EU delegation in Mauritius, Mrs Manuela Riccio, she stated that food security is a major policy area for any country, in order to protect humans, animals and plants from diseases, pests or contaminants and is central to trade.
She expressed appreciation to the local authorities to take the initiative to include the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Information Management System that will allow for an integrated management of Sanitary and Phytosanitary data in Mauritius. The SPS portal, she added, is a key step in enhancing efficiency, transparency and improved services to both importers and exporters.
SPS Portal
The overall objective of the project is to facilitate trade and increase transparency by consolidating all sanitary and phytosanitary trade related information into one user-friendly website and the automation of all systems processes for the issuance of a phytosanitary certificate, starting from the application to the issuance of the certificate.
It will provide accurate and easily accessible information related to food safety, animal health, plant health and quality trade standards, regulation, amongst others, and will therefore be an important and comprehensive data base and tool all trading partners, facilitating the application for a Phytosanitary Certificate.
The application will be processed electronically and the certificate issued electronically. Any associated payments will also be made electronically. It will contain laws and regulations, standards, procedures, guidance notes, fees, forms, licences and permits on a product by product basis where applicable; the text of all the laws, regulations and legal instruments.
There will also be an inventory of SPS resources and services, including institutions, frameworks and existing linkages to other portals in the country and internationally; a comprehensive inventory of relevant institutional, policy, legal and other frameworks that drive the local SPS Framework.
The SPS portal project was supported by the SADC Trade Related Facility (TRF) established through a Contribution Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which was signed in July 2014.
A sum of EUR 1.4 million was allocated to Mauritius and of which EUR 200, 000 to the project for the setting up of the SPS information management portal for Mauritius.
