Blog Fellowships Editorial Staff August 27, 2021 0 Comments

Applications Ongoing: African Union Commission And the United States Department of Agriculture Scientific Exchanges Program

African Union SPS Regulatory Regimes

Program Description

Background:

The African Union Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Policy Framework aims to facilitate harmonization of AU Member States’ SPS policy priorities of SPS systems in Africa. The policy framework addresses diverse and intersecting needs with the objective to; establish harmonized science-based SPS systems; strengthen collaboration and trade facilitation; build technical capacity and; increase political support and public and private sector investment in SPS systems.

The Scientific Exchanges Program (SEP) supports USDA’s agricultural research goals of promoting collaborative programs among agricultural professionals of eligible countries, agricultural professionals of the United States, the international agricultural research system, and U.S. entities conducting research. SEP is implemented by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Programs, Fellowship Programs.

The SEP Fellowships in general was created to operationalize the joint effort of the AU and USDA to promote food security and economic growth in eligible countries by educating a new generation of agricultural scientists, increasing scientific knowledge and collaborative research to improve agricultural productivity, and extending that knowledge to users and intermediaries in the marketplace. The collaborative nature of the SEP training and research programs benefits the fellow, his or her home institution, and partner country; the U.S. host institution, its professors, researchers, and students; and the global agricultural sector by improving agricultural productivity, systems, and processes in partnering nations through the transfer of new science and agricultural technologies.

This application package focus on applicants interested in establishing and harmonizing SPS regulatory regimes across the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of the African Union (AU). The goal will be to empower fellows to advocate for sound SPS policy to peers, decision-makers, and the public.

Objectives of the Fellowship Focus on AU SPS Regulatory Regimes:

Support AU-RECs to establish SPS regulatory regimes in the African Continental Free Trade Area based on science and the international standard setting bodies (Codex, International Plant Protection Convention, and World Organization for Animal Health) that allows for the safe cross border trade of agricultural products.
Create synergies among agricultural policy practitioners in the AU-RECs, and all relevant stakeholders including but not limited to U.S. regulatory agencies and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, to work together in formulating a road map for the implementation of the SPS policy framework.
Provide leadership and science communication to empower fellows to advocate for sound policy to peers, decision-makers, and the general public.
Contribute to the strategic goals and objectives of individual fellows, the host institutions, and USDA, providing opportunity for application of research agendas in a “real-world” environment which can have a direct impact on international trade, food security, and economic growth in emerging economies.
Collaborate with and gain input from relevant stakeholders, such as U.S. regulatory agencies and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Develop knowledge of SPS regulations and gaps which currently exist in the AU-RECs with special attention to policy frameworks, implementation capacity, actors and synergy of regimes.