Namibia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in namibia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Overview

The Namibia Standards Institution (NSI) administers standards in Namibia.  The NSI is responsible for promoting standardization of products for the safety of consumers and protection of the environment for improved access to global markets.  Namibia has acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Publication of Standards.

Standards

The Namibia Standards Institution (NSI) conducts testing, inspection, and certification services in respect of Namibian products and services.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

Agricultural products are certified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.  There are no mutual recognition agreements with U.S. organizations.  In 2016, Namibia successfully completed the U.S. Department of Agriculture equivalence process for meat and became eligible to export beef to the United States.  
There is no accreditation body in Namibia. The South African National Accreditation body (SANAS: http://www.sanas.co.za) currently provides for Namibia’s accreditation needs.  Laboratories need to get formal recognition from the National Commission on Research Science and Technology (NCRST) that they are competent to perform specific tasks.

Publication of Technical Regulations

The Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) is a Correspondent Member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and subscribes to the World Trade Organization/Technical Barriers to Trade/TBT Annex 3 Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards.  The NSI has developed standards and regulations, in accordance with the provisions of the Code, based on the WTO principle of transparency.

 

Contact Information 

Namibian Standards Institution (NSI)

Physical Address

The Forum (Old Sanlam Building)

First Floor Suite 115

11-17 Dr Frans Indongo Street

Windhoek

Namibia 

 

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 26364

Windhoek

Tel: +264 61 386400

Fax: +264 61 386454

E-mail: query@nsi.com.na

 

Standards point of contact at Embassy Windhoek:

Economic and Commercial Office

14 Lossen Street, Windhoek, Namibia

Tel. +264-61-295 8500

Fax +264-61-295 8603

Email:  econ_comm_Windhoek@state.gov

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by WTO Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.

Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life. Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information.