18th February 2021 – ARSO, represented by the Secretary General, Dr. Hermogene Nsengimana, left, has signed an MoU with Association of Official Analytical Collaboration (AOAC) INTERNATIONAL. The MoU is a follow-up to thediscussions, deliberations and recommendations of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Sub-Saharan Africa Section Inaugural Meeting, that took Place from 5-7 November 2018 at The Farm Inn Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa, and which recommended among other things, the need for, establishing technical/ capacity building collaboration agreements with key stakeholders in the region such as ARSO and AFRIMETS. The MoU will facilitate the harmonization and implementation of analytical performance standards and conformity assessment procedures in the field of agriculture and food safety, to support government regulatory policies and favourable integration into regional and international markets, especially promoting trade of safe agricultural products within the African Single Market under the AfCFTA.
(AOAC) INTERNATIONAL (https://www.aoac.org) is a 501(c)(3), independent, third party, not-for-profit association and voluntary consensus standards developing organization dedicated to serving the analytical community in laboratory capacity building, conformity assessment, method validation, and promotion of globally accepted testing standards. AOAC INTERNATIONAL provides a forum for government, industry, and academia to collaboratively establish standard method performance requirements and official methods of analysis that ensure the safety and integrity of foods and other products that impact public health around the world. AOAC INTERNATIONAL, facilitates science-based solutions through the development of performance standards and Official Methods of Analysis (chemical and microbiological) for a broad spectrum of safety interests including, but not limited to, food and food ingredients; beverages; dietary supplements; infant formula; animal feeds; fertilizers; soil and water; and, veterinary drug residues. AOAC consensus standards and Official Methods of Analysis are routinely approved by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) for adoption of methods as CODEX international standards which are used globally to promote trade and to facilitate public health and safety. David B. Schmidt (right), the Executive Director, represented AOAC.