AU-IBAR, Experts Move To Harmonize Cross-Border Livestock Trade Under AfCFTA
Participants are expected to validate essential documentation—such as livestock movement permits, SPS certificates, vaccination records, and Halal certification—as a precursor to developing Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs).
By Suleiman Mbatiah
For millions of pastoralists in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, moving livestock across borders is an ancient practice governed by modern, fragmented national regulations—a disconnect that has hindered the pastoral community from realizing the full economic value of their livestock.
To address this, the African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is convening a week-long technical consultation from in Naivasha, Kenya, to align these disparate systems with the continent’s flagship free trade area, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The high-level meeting, operating under the African Pastoral Markets Development (APMD) Platform, brings together over 75 participants, including veterinary authorities, customs officials, and private sector traders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.
According to the Policy Pillar Lead, African Pastoral Markets Development (APMD) at AU-IBAR, Professor Ahmed Elbeltagy, the mission is to transform the promising but constrained pastoral corridors into formal, efficient, and AfCFTA-compliant trade routes.
He said a regional policy dialogue held in July 2025 confirmed that while progress has been made in ratifying the AfCFTA and identifying priority corridors like the Mandera-Bula Hawa and Moyale axes, persistent policy fragmentation continues to strangle trade.
“Overlapping mandates of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), unharmonized sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements, and corridor-specific tariff and non-tariff barriers remain critical choke points,” he stated, adding that cross-border livestock movements are largely governed by informal practices and unharmonized requirements.
While AfCFTA provides a continental framework for market access, he highlighted, effective participation of pastoral systems depends on predictable, recognized, and enforceable livestock movement governance thus the need for bilateral and trilateral policy harmonization arrangements among member states.
Participants are expected to validate essential documentation—such as livestock movement permits, SPS certificates, vaccination records, and Halal certification—as a precursor to developing Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs).
He argued that the MRAs are seen as vital for building trust and ensuring that a certificate issued in one country is accepted at the border of another, replacing the current system of discretionary enforcement that often leads to delays and corruption.
“Furthermore, the meeting will support structured bilateral negotiations to address distortionary tariffs and develop corridor-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). A major focus will be on charting the way forward for establishing and operationalizing One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs),” he explained.
These priority corridors, he added, will streamline inspections and drastically reduce border delays, ensuring livestock reach markets faster through formal, predictable, and harmonized trade procedures.
To ensure scalability, experts say the initiative will adapt Horn of Africa frameworks for Sahel corridors linking Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon, promoting inter-REC coordination for coherence with regional and continental trade instruments.
Professor Ahmed said the framework, if adapted and implemented, will reduce regulatory fragmentation, accelerate formal livestock trade, and strengthen cooperation among authorities, enabling pastoralists’ ancient practices to thrive across borders.
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