By Sirrah Touray
The Gambia on Monday officially launched and revitalised its National Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee, a move stakeholders say will tighten food safety controls, protect plant and animal health, and expand access to international markets.
The event hosted at Senegambia Beach Hotel was organised by the Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA) with support from the GIRAV project and the SPRING programme, in collaboration with the European Union and COLEAD.
FSQA Board Chairman Dr Amadou Sowe said the committee will close long-standing coordination gaps across agencies.
“Today we begin to close these gaps,” he said. “The SPS Committee will serve as the institutional backbone connecting our trade ambitions to the technical standards global markets demand.”
FAO Country Representative Moshibudi Rampedi called the launch “timely and strategic,” noting it followed World Food Safety Day 2026.
“Sanitary and phytosanitary measures protect human, animal and plant health. The committee will help build consumer confidence and support producers’ competitiveness in regional and global trade,” she said.
SPRING Operational Manager Elizabeth Mendy stressed that food safety is a shared responsibility. “Food safety is everyone’s responsibility: the farmer, the transporter, the shop owner and the consumer. Solutions already exist; what we need now is collective action,” she said.
Delivering the official launch statement, Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment Mod Ceesay said the committee fulfils The Gambia’s obligations under the WTO SPS Agreement.
“Market access is determined by whether a country can demonstrate credible, science-based systems,” he said. “SPS compliance is not a constraint on growth; it is a prerequisite for it.”
The National SPS Committee brings together FSQA, the Department of Plant Protection, the Department of Livestock Services, The Gambia Standards Bureau and other agencies. It will coordinate SPS policy, manage WTO notifications, strengthen private-sector compliance, and represent The Gambia in regional and international standard-setting bodies.
Officials said the new structure will support key value chains—including cashew, groundnuts, horticulture and fisheries—helping Gambian products meet traceability and safety requirements for premium markets in Europe and Asia.
With the committee now formally launched, stakeholders say The Gambia has taken a concrete step toward safer food, healthier farms and stronger trade.
