Bringing Phytosanitary Services in to Focus 

The phytosanitary service has been given little focus in Ethiopia for long. Due to various reasons the service provided is not to the level expected in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and quality of service. Often there are complaints from the service users. One of the reasons for the gap is believed to be the level of attention from the government given to the phytosanitary service. For successful international trade, building phytosanitary service capacity is of a prime interest of a nation. The phytosanitary service is unique in its nature of service as it requires international standards and procedures to be followed. 

In collaboration with Ethiopian Agricultural Authority, ENSP organized a workshop. The objective of the workshop was to draw decision makers focus on how to have an effective and efficient phytosanitary services and thereby aware higher officials about the importance of phytosanitary service on the Ethiopian economy.

The workshop was organized by ENSP in collaboration with EAA.  The workshop was attended by over 21 participants including H.E Ambassador Deriba Kuma, Director General of EAA, Mr Wondale Habtamu Deputy Director General of EAA, representatives from Coffee and Tea Authority, EHPEA, EPOSPEA, EIAR, National Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, senior experts in the area, private horticulture exporter companies and ENSP staff.

The EAA officials remarked the importance of phytosanitary services for the country, particularly in export commodities. They believe that the degree of service quality and effectiveness of phytosanitary service reflects the image of the country. The establishment of independent Ethiopian Agriculture Authority is not only a good opportunity but also the responsible and accountable organization for the improvement of the phytosanitary services.

This organization can coordinate regulations and build over all capacity. For continuous improvement of the services, the need to establish phytosanitary stakeholders’ platform, improvement in service payment fee, improvement in e-phyto (electronic phytosanitary), service system efficiency, phytosanitary capacity evaluation (PCE) and quick action for emerging issues such as EU quarantine pest lists were the important take-aways from the workshop. In this workshop, actions for implementations are identified and direction was also given on some aspects of phytosanitary issues.