234. At the national level, the quality of products and food services is governed by Law No.11-2007/AN of 24 May 2007 on the institution of a national standardisation system, certification, accreditation and promotion of quality standards in Burkina. There is also Decree 94-14 of 6 January 1994 on the national certificate of compliance, the purpose of which is to certify that products meant for consumption are consistent with quality standards in terms of acceptable weight, quantity and packaging in Burkina Faso. In order to introduce quality standards in the area of production, processing and distribution of agricultural and agri-food products in Burkina Faso, the Government through the Quality Standards and Agricultural Metrology Directorate (DMNA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, adopted a National Strategy for the Promotion of Standards and Quality of Agricultural and Agri-Food products in 2012. 235. Besides FASONORM which represents Burkina Faso as a national standards organisation at the international and regional institutional level, other public and private mechanisms exist for quality control. Among these public institutions are the following: - Directorate-General for Plant Production and the Directorate of Quality Standards and Agricultural Metrology, two bodies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ; - Directorate General of Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Animal Resources ; - Inspectorate General of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Arts and Crafts: - National Public Health Laboratory ; - Ouagadougou Commune Health Action Directorate; - National Biosafety Agency ; - Customs Service. Under the private bodies, the following can be cited: - ECOCERT, FLO-CERT, Certicys and Lacon which operate mainly in the field of biological agriculture and equitable label ; - COTECNA which works on problems of under-invoicing and import-related fraudulent practices. 236. Civil society organisations in Burkina Faso also carry out activities relating to sensitisation, training, advocacy and organisation of consumers. This applies to the Burkinabè Quality Management Association, the Consumers Association of Burkina, the Consumers League of Burkina (affiliate member of the International Consumers Organisation), the Organisation of Consumers of Burkina, Vigi-consommateurs, etc. 237. In spite of the measures taken, the main difficulty in the area of quality control lies in the fact that some companies are often developed and established at the family and small-scale level in terms of their operations, technical skills and even their highly localised ambition. Their focus is sometimes on a single less formalised external market. c) Legislative measures taken to ensure that access to food is not used as a political weapon to reward supporters and punish their opponents or recruit militia 238. There is no discrimination as far as food and foodstuff distribution is concerned. The distribution of foodstuff is carried out by specialised bodies (the National Buffer Stock Management Company, the National Food Security Council, the National Emergency 59

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents