Clearing the Way for Blue Trade: UNIDO Launches Strategic Guide to Boost Fisheries Trade in Southern Africa

UNIDO is proud to announce the release of a groundbreaking new publication, the Strategic and Operational Guide to Assess the Conformity of Fishery Products: Improving Trade under the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) in the SADC Region.

Developed under the African Development Bank-funded “Programme for Improving Fisheries Governance and Blue Trade Corridors in the SADC Region (PROFISHBLUE)”, implemented by the SADC Secretariat and executed by UNIDO in collaboration with other implementing partners, this guide is a practical resource designed to improve the formal cross-border trade of fisheries and aquaculture products in Southern Africa. It supports high-level government officials, inspection authorities operating at OSBPs, and private-sector fisheries traders and operators in navigating the regulatory, sanitary, and technical challenges of moving perishable aquatic products efficiently across borders.  

Drawing on international best practices and field experience, the guide provides step-by-step recommendations to support regional coordinated border management, streamline customs and regulatory procedures, and foster economic integration. By outlining the various testing, inspection, and certification requirements to move fisheries products across SADC borders, the guide will improve the livelihoods of SADC fisheries communities as well as ensure safer, stronger and inclusive fisheries and aquaculture value chains with more local value.

The guide is available in English, French, and Portuguese.

For more information, please, contact Mr. Alejandro Rivera Rojas (a.rivera-rojas [at] unido.org)