The West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP) funded  by  the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), is organizing in Cotonou, on 18th and 19th October,  2016, the 2nd Meeting of its expanded steering Committee.

The main objective is to inform the attendees on the state of implementation of the Programme.

This meeting will be followed by an Internal Technical Workshop (ITW), mainly on the changes and updates regarding the management rules of WAQSP. The attendees are the management staff of the Programme at national & regional level & at Vienna: (WAQSP Team at Vienna, Regional Technical Coordination Unit (RTCU) Abuja, and National Technical Coordinators (NTCs)). It will be held on the 20th.

The enlarged RSC meeting will be preceded by a Metrology meeting, which will take place on 17-18 October. Another “Aide Memoire” related to the Metrology meeting has been prepared and will be shared with the participants as soon as it is cleared.

As a reminder, the WAQSP, funded to the tune of 12 million Euros by the European Union (EU) supports the implementation of the regional ECOWAS quality policy (ECOQUAL), to establish a framework for development and appropriate operation, and an implementation of a quality infrastructure effective to facilitate the intra-regional and international trade protecting consumers and the environment and promote sustainable economic development.

Its overall objective is to Establish suitable Quality infrastructure (QI) and national quality policies, for consumer health and environment protection, the improvement of private sector competitiveness and trade facilitation (i.e., better access to foreign markets).