(c)
The meeting of the chief immigration officers should
be held more frequently in line with the rules of
procedure of meetings of chiefs of immigration,
which require that they meet once a year;
(d)
The harmonisation of policies should take into
consideration other regional obligations of Member
States;
(e)
The inter-linkage between the fulfilment of economic
integration, economic union procedures and free
movement of labour be emphasised;
(f)
There is need for a paradigm shift from migration
control to migration management at all institutional
levels and COMESA Secretariat and cooperating
partners should mobilize funding for capacity
building to this effect;
(g)
A task force composed of the following Member
States: Burundi, Egypt, Malawi, Swaziland and
Zambia and the Secretariat should work on the
development of a capacity building programme that
is in line with a developed road map;
(h)
The implementation of the Protocols should take into
consideration the several existing regional
agreements to which COMESA Member States are
party, in order to neutralise contradictions and
promote convergence;
(i)
Regional consultative processes in the form of
technical workshops aimed at building the capacities
of the national institutions responsible for
implementation and addressing specific critical
aspects should be encouraged;
(j)
A specific study addressing topics, such as border
and data management systems should be
undertaken; and
Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) Programme in the COMESA
Region
Decisions
15. Council made the following decisions:
(a) Member states should support development of the Regional
SPS and the agricultural trade facilitation project that seeks
to put into action the priority issues;
(b) Member States should support development and
implementation of the Green Pass Certification Scheme;
(c) Member States should support harmonization of regulatory
aspects relating to aflatoxin control including natural
remedies such as bio control technologies; and
(d) Member States should support the SPS joint work
programme developed by East African Community (EAC),
COMESA and Southern African Development Community
(SADC) for harmonization of SPS measures in the Tripartite
Free Trade Area.
IMMIGRATION
Implementation of the Protocols and Council Decisions on the
Movement of Persons and Labour
Decisions
16. Council made the following decisions:
(a)
Member States which are yet to ratify and sign the
Protocols be encouraged to do so;
(b)
The chief immigration officers should play a key role
in the adoption, ratification and implementation of
the Protocols;
7