The measure was established this Wednesday at the extraordinary SADC Council of Ministers meeting which examined the regional guidelines for cross-border transport and the procedures for monitoring at the covid-19 control entry points.
The meeting, held by videoconference from Dar es Saam, capital of Tanzania, was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, Health, Silvia Lutucuta, and Transport, Ricardo de Abreu.
Speaking to the press, Ms Lutucuta said that an in-depth approach had been taken to the guidelines, to facilitate the movement of goods and goods and to ensure that sanitary conditions are adequate, "both for the protection of countries and for drivers".
"It has been established that a pre-test has to be done, the individual has to be tested in his country of origin, he has to have a certificate of this credible testing and then he can start his journey, of course controlled by the health authorities", said the minister.
Silvia Lutucuta stressed that there is movement at the border gate for humanitarian reasons or for goods movements, but they are accompanied by the health authorities.
According to the Minister of Health, the health authorities of each country are usually linked to the Ministry of Health, which can delegate the competence for certification of testing to national or provincial public health directorates, as well as border health authorities.
"Such certificates are like the International Vaccine Certificate, which is issued by a credible public health entity and the provincial or national public health directorate. In our case it will be like that," she said.
Like the crew of international flights, the long-distance drivers will also be installed in places that are established for institutional quarantine, stressed Silvia Lutucuta.
For his part, the head of Angolan diplomacy recalled that countries are still facing the situation of covid-19, but an adaptation is necessary.
"On 20 May it was decided that we would work to review the guidelines that we had already established regarding the movement of goods, because life cannot stop. We must continue to make our economies, even in the difficulties we have, have elements to continue living as a country", Téte António stressed.
He said that the issue of biosafety purchases had also been analysed and the market identified by SADC was that of India, recalling that "this is a branch that has a diversity of suppliers".
Urged to comment on the 'online' platform created by the African Union, called the African Platform for the Supply of Medical Material, the holder of the Foreign Affairs portfolio praised the initiative, stressing however that "countries are sovereign" and can choose to go to different markets.
"Each country can choose to go to that or another platform, each country decides the most appropriate way to meet its needs," he said.
Transport Minister Ricardo de Abreu stressed that the major concern is the need to have the facility to transport goods at a regional level, "because countries need to have this movement.
"But let it be done safely both for the receiving countries, for the drivers and also for the populations of the region. Essentially, we are trying here to avoid that the procedures adopted to facilitate the transport of goods are also a vehicle for community transmission of the virus and expansion of the pandemic," he noted.
