Kenya has turned to the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat to resolve increasing trade conflicts with some member countries according to the Standard.
Adan Mohamed, the EAC and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary said the executive arm of the EAC should be able to resolve instance when member countries fail to reach an agreement with regards to non-tariff barrier challenges.
“The biggest issue is the interpretation of rules by officials at the border. To solve this, we want a different approach where the secretariat takes a leading role in resolving the issues rather than members resolving disputes among themselves,” he said.
Trade Barriers
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) chairman Sachen Gudka said in spite of the attempts being made to work out a trade disagreement where Uganda and Tanzania imposed a duty on confectionery and sweets in Kenya with some products being prohibited from entering the two countries.
Tanzania has also imposed a 25 per cent duty on duty-free sugar imports, a situation that is frustrating Kenyan manufacturers. What’s more, CS Aden said that the conflicts also touch on taxes on cigarettes and textiles. This has led Kenya to invite the two countries to inspect countries manufacturing ice cream, cakes, and other confectioneries using industrial sugar.
KAM members have also held meetings with Tanzanian officials to solve long-standing trade issues such as “lack of preferential status on edible oil products, cement and lubricants.” Tanzania is also charging Kenyan business people $500 for work permits amid a supposedly intentional delay to issue Sylvia Mulinge with a work permit to begin her job as a Vodacom’s MD.
Tanzania’s Problem with Kenya’s Confectioneries
According to the Business Daily, Tanzania is giving a cold shoulder to a deal that allowed Kenya to export confectioneries to the country citing that the use of zero-rated industrial sugar is giving Kenyan manufacturers a competitive advantage against the Tanzanian competitors. As a result, Kenya is looking to the EAC to solve the issue.
The trade conflicts have resulted in losses as exports to Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania from Kenya dropped to Sh107.46 billion in 2017 compared to Sh114.46 billion in 2016.
