Nairobi Kenya,
April 21, 2016 - Regional trading times and
costs have been reduced through elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers in the
region advancing trade and prosperity, says a TradeMark East Africa evaluation
report.
TradeMark
East Africa has been supporting the elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)
to trade in the East African Community (EAC). NTB’s present a serious challenge
to trade with an EAC wide cost estimate of NTBs (2010) being approximately
US$490 million.
Emerging
results from the recently conducted independent evaluation of the NTB’s
programme indicate a 14 per cent reduction in time taken to import goods
from each East African country (from 36 days to 31 days) and a 20 per cent
reduction in time taken to export goods from each EAC country (from 33 days to
26 days).
Further results indicate a reduction in the cost of transporting a
standard (40 foot) container from Mombasa to Kigali, from US$6,500 in 2011 to
US$4,800, which is estimated to have generated a saving (at constant volumes)
of approximately US$7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone
Similarly, Inland transportation times from Dar es Salaam to Kigali have
dropped considerably, now to 3.5 days.
Burundi
tops the list of the East African countries that has witnessed the highest
import reduction time – at 28 per cent (from 30 days to 43 days).
The time taken to export from Uganda has successfully reduced from
nearly 35 days in 2010 to under 30 days in 2015.
Other
areas that have witnessed great progress include – Tanzania which has witnessed
a 99 per cent reduction in application time (5 days to only one hour) for
getting an electronic certificate of origin.
There has been significant progress in the number of NTBs that have been
identified (112) and resolved (87) through the EAC Time Bound Programme on
Elimination of Identified NTBs supported by TMEA – in a large part due to work
undertaken by the National Monitoring Committees (NMCs) and EAC Secretariat
since the onset of TMEA support in 2011.
A
significant result of the NTBs programme has been the enactment of The EAC
Elimination of NTB Act. The NTB Act aims to give effect to the second clause
under Article 13 of the Customs Union, by establishing a legal mechanism for
identifying and monitoring the removal of NTBs. A great value of the NTB Act is
the possibility for the Council of Ministers to recommend to the Summit the
imposition of sanctions against a Partner State, which fails to comply with any
directive, decision or recommendations of the Council. The NTB Act remains a
landmark milestone in the work in support of the progressive elimination of
NTBs within the EAC.
“This is a significant milestone in the growth and development of our
region. Non-Tariff Barriers remain a stumbling block in growing prosperity in
the EAC region. TMEA invested around $7.89 million in the NTBs project and
total programme benefit are expected to be in the range of US$35-45 million at
constant trade volumes. A reduction of NTBs will invariably lead to more trade
in the region, which is ultimately our goal, of growing prosperity through
trade,” said Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark East Africa.
This
comes at a time when elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers remains a teething
challenge not only to regional trade and integration but also a subject that
partner states grapple with in the quest of growing trade within the EAC bloc.
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