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LUSAKA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Zambia has welcomed the decision by member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc to harmonize 11 standards on fish and fish-related products to enable member countries to trade without non-tariff barriers, its standards agency said on Friday.
The decision was made when various heads of national standards bodies in the region met at the 23rd SADC Technical Barriers to Trade Cooperation Structures meeting in Swaziland last week.
The Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) said the decision will promote business activities in the regional bloc by providing conducive business relations.
"The harmonization of the standards means that manufacturers, traders and suppliers within the SADC region can import or export their fish an fisheries-related products without non-tariff barriers because there will be equivalence or uniformity in the treatment of both local products and imports within the region," Manuel Mutale, the agency's director said in a statement.
It will also boost trade within and outside the region, he added.
The standards agency has since urged the business community in Zambia to take advantage of the harmonized standards by exporting fish and fish products to regional markets to contribute to economic development. Enditem
