UNIDO Project

The detailed description of the project: “Enhancement of regional trade capacities in food through harmonized regional conformity assessment and food safety systems” UNIDO has developed in consultation with the League of Arab States (LAS), AIDMO and the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) a technical assistance to support the regional efforts, coordinated by LAS, AIDMO and AOAD, aiming at achieving regional integration, harmonization and effective coordination in food safety ensuring compliance with international trade rules and regulations (TBT and SPS agreements) The development goal is to facilitate regional trade in food and regional integration through strengthening the regional coordination and harmonization mechanisms on conformity assessment and food safety systems following international best practices (TBT & SPS).

The project is designed to ensure the achievement of the following two main outcomes:

• Outcome 1: LAS, AIDMO and AOAD technical and regional coordination capacities strengthened for the planning, implementation and management of a harmonized regional food safety program within the framework of the Regional Strategy.
• Outcome 2: LAS, AIDMO and AOAD member countries improve their national food safety systems following regionally harmonized policies.

Duties: The expert will be working under the direct supervision of the UNIDO Project Manager, and in close coordination with the Chief

The types of services provided are:

Technical Advisor (CTA) and the Program Coordinator: The expert is expected to perform the following duties:

• Map and assess all regional private sector related institutional frameworks / structures (organizations, associations, federations, chambers, regional bodies, sub-regional, NGOs etc) available in the Arab region and related to the food sector (production/growing, processing, trade, service etc).
• For each of the identified institution / structure, develop a profile indicating their mandate, legal setup, organizational structure, scope, initiatives, FS-specific work they do, contact details etc)
• Share the draft profile template with UNIDO team ahead of finalization.
• Map and assess all national food industries association at LAS member states (only PAFTA signatories), for each association, develop a profile indicating their structure, mandate, scope of work, legal setup, membership base, FS related work and initiatives, contact details etc.).
• Share the draft profile template with UNIDO team ahead of finalization.
• Identify top 10 large-scale national food businesses (manufacturers, producers/growers, traders, services) in each of the LAS member countries, prepare a short report on these businesses / country indicating their scope of work, scale,  FS-related initiatives, basic company information and contact details.
• Share the draft report template with UNIDO team ahead of finalization.
• Identify top 25 large-scale multi-national food businesses (manufacturers, producers, traders, services) investing and operating in the Arab region, prepare a short report on these businesses / indicating their scope of work, scale, presence and operations in the region,  FS-related initiatives, basic company information and contact details.
• Share the draft report template with UNIDO team ahead of finalization.
• Assess the level of regional representation of the food sector at the regional trade agenda and suggest specific ways to improve it.
• Prepare a final report on the assignment and attached the different reports / profiles to be produced.
• Prepare a summary of maximum 3 pages to summarize the findings and recommendations together with a PowerPoint slides to present the results.