UNIDO launches ‘Improving Blue Economy Trade Corridors in the SADC Region’ Report as part of the PROFISHBLUE project
Vienna, Austria. 16 December 2024. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has recently published a new report titled ‘Improving Blue Economy Trade Corridors in the SADC Region: Towards the adoption of a regional strategy for One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) for fisheries products under PROFISHBLUE’.
The report was developed as part of the African Development Bank (ADF) funded Programme for Improving Fisheries Governance and Blue Economy Trade Corridors in the SADC Region (PROFISHBLUE) project which aims to promote the sustainable management of fisheries resources within the Blue Economy context. The project is being implemented by the SADC Secretariat which has agreements with 5 other implementation partners, including UNIDO, the African Organization for Standardisation (ARSO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and WorldFish.
One of UNIDO’s specific interventions under PROFISHBLUE relates to policy harmonization and trade facilitation through optimizing the OSBP across six bordering countries (DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). This report – developed in collaboration between PROFISHBLUE National Focal Points, SADC technical experts, and other core PROFISHBLUE stakeholders - comprises chapters on a situational and trade analysis of the fisheries trade in targeted Southern African countries, critically reviewing previous OSBP interventions and mapping quality infrastructure across the target countries.
PROFISHBLUE partners recognize that the valuable information collected extends beyond project interventions and can be used by future stakeholders to continue improving regional trade dynamics between SADC Member States. The publication also contributes to advance UNIDO´s Blue Industry Strategic Framework, in particular enhancing trade integration of Blue Economy and global food security.
As a next step, the data collected will be used for the development of a regional strategy on OSBPs for fisheries trade. This strategy will aim to serve as a step-by-step guide for the pre-selected PROFISHBLUE Member States to enhance formal fisheries trade through outlining the core requirements for overcoming barriers and avoiding disruption between Member States with operational OSBPs.
The report was officially launched at the Aquaculture Africa conference (AFRAQ) on 22 November 2024 by Ms. Margarida Dos Santos Correia, UNIDO technical expert in fisheries, aquaculture and SPS.
To access the report, please use the following links:
For more information, contact Alejandro Rivera Rojas at A.Rivera-Rojas [at] unido.org
