Like many Sahelian countries, Senegal is affected by the effects of climate change, with the related increased risks of proliferation of cross-border pests and diseases, which can endanger crops and stored foodstuffs and have been the cause of interceptions of exported plants and plant products.

Senegal's NPPO, the "Direction de Protection des Végétaux" (DPV), conducted an assessment of the national phytosanitary capacity using the IPPC Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) tool. The assessment identified the following key weaknesses and challenges in the country's phytosanitary system:

• An outdated law on phytosanitary control. The existing phytosanitary law dates from 1952. The legislative and regulatory framework which governs plant protection needs to be updated to be consistent with the IPPC, the WTO SPS agreement and with other international commitments made by Senegal.
• Lack of a risk-based certification approach and lack of an evaluation or audit mechanism.
• Absence of a regulatory frameworks covering new concepts such as risk analysis.

This project aims to address these challenges by:

• Updating the legal and regulatory phytosanitary frameworks in line with international standards. The project will ensure the alignment of the Senegalese phytosanitary legal framework with international treaties, for instance the IPPC, the WTO SPS and TFA agreements.
• Strengthening the operational capacity of the national phytosanitary system. Various processes will be formalized and key stakeholders' capacities to implement these processes will be enhanced, for example: the analysis of phytosanitary risks, the establishment of a national list of regulated pests, phytosanitary certification, communication, and exchanges of phytosanitary information at the national and international levels, etc.
• Strengthening the dynamics of communication and cooperation between the NPPO and relevant national stakeholders.