Venue: Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi Kenya
Date: 29th – 31st August 2018.
The committee's 5th meeting was convened in Nairobi, Kenya from the 29th to 31st of August 2018. The objective of the meeting was to deliberate on comments received from the Member States on the previous drafts documents, approved new work items, proposed standards for adoption as African Standards (ARS) and to identify new projects for future work
The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Reuben Gisore who is the Technical Director ARSO. During his opening remark, Mr. Gisore thanked the THC for its commendable work and role it plays in the harmonization of textiles and leather standards. He further emphasized that standards must take into consideration all people, whether living in rural or urban areas. He gave examples of new types of plant fibres which could benefit people doing small scale farming in rural areas and reusable sanitary towels which is an option for women who cannot afford disposable sanitary products or any products at all.
ALLPI was represented in this meeting by Harrison Mungai (the Institute’s Leather Value Chain and Tannery Expert.
The meeting was attended by 37 delegates drawn from 19 African Countries/Institutions namely; Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) and ARSO Secretariat.
The committee noted the progress made, 34 standards were approved and published, 10 working drafts have been presented to the committee for comments and have been passed and 7 new projects identified and were being discussed.
WORK PLANS FOR REVIEW OF EXISTING AND NEW STANDARDS
The following proposals were identified as a 3 year work plan. The relevant proposing countries must complete new work item proposals within the stipulated period and upload on the SharePoint and forward to ARSO Central Secretariat for further direction.
Proposed future work (draft) items:
- Textiles standards for classification and grading of cotton fibre – Action: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan
- Fishing twines and fishing nets (Possible ISO adoption). Action: Tanzania
- Specification and grading of camel hides (check for ISO standard). Action: Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria
- Specification for bed covers, bed sheets and duvets. Action: South Africa and Cameroon.
- African Prints. Action: Tanzania, Cameroon and Nigeria.
- Wallets. Action: Kenya and Nigeria.
- Natural cellulosic Fibres (check for ISO standards). Action: Nigeria
- Synthetic (artificial) hair (More research to be done on the exact fibre types). Action: Nigeria, Tanzania, DRC and South Africa.