Non-tariff barriers still persist: report
A truck from Kenya into Tanzania in Namanga. A new report says 69 non-tariff barriers had been cumulatively scrapped across East Africa, but new ones have cropped up. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- A high level regional ministerial meeting was informed in Kigali, Rwanda last week of eight new barriers imposed by some partner states as efforts were underway to resolve 24 outstanding ones
Arusha. At a time when the East African Community (EAC) appears to have successfully agitated for the removal of dozens of trade barriers in the bloc, more non-tariff barriers (NTBs) have been reported.
A high-level regional ministerial meeting was informed in Kigali, Rwanda, last week of eight new barriers imposed by some partner states as efforts were underway to resolve 24 outstanding ones.
A report by the EAC Secretariat said although 69 NTBs had been cumulatively scrapped, thanks to concerted efforts by the member countries and the business sector, the situation was not encouraging.
“Twenty-four barriers remain unresolved and eight others have been reported as new,” the report said, noting that additional NTBs would continue to derail smooth trade within the region. Details on which of the five EAC member country was responsible to putting up yet other barriers, which have in the past manifested mainly in form of road blocks, could not be obtained.
But the EAC secretary general, Dr Richard Sezibera, emphasized during the talks that efforts must be made to ensure that the agreed commitments under the EAC were effectively implemented.
The ministers responsible for EAC affairs and planning pleaded with all the five partner states to expedite conclusion of the EAC Draft Protocol on Preventing and Combating Corruption by June next year.
Information on increased barriers to trade have emerged after reports by Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), a donor-supported entity for facilitation of trade within the region, expressed concern on growing NTBs.
The organisation said traders were losing millions of shillings, in both the northern and central corridors, because some member countries of the community were not keen to eliminate barriers. “The slow pace at which some of the member states are removing NTBs has resulted into profound effect with 39 per cent of inputs and exports paying a heavy price,” said a recent study.
According to the study titled The Current Status of NTBs in EA released in Kigali, at least 24 per cent of the manufactured goods are being affected by NTBs, seven per cent each for rice and tea and five per cent beverages.
Also three per cent of dairy products and sugar being traded within the region are affected by a host of barriers imposed by EA states as well as one per cent of beef and three per cent of agricultural processed products.
TMEA says the barriers account for the high transportation costs in the EAC which are estimated to be 60 to 70 per cent higher than in the US or Europe and 30 per cent higher than in southern Africa.
“These barriers drive up business costs of importing and exporting goods, make business globally uncompetitive and increase prices to consumers across the region,” the report further said.
