Nairobi: Customs agencies could soon be forced to compensate traders for losses arising from slow clearance of goods in an effort to open up trade within the East African Community. EAC officials said an agreement had been reached on a legally binding framework to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) while imposing sanctions on offenders.
“The draft legal framework will be ready by the second quarter of this year, guided by a study that we have launched to identify the type of NTBs that will attract sanctions,” Richard Sezibera, the EAC Secretary- General, said in Nairobi on Thursday.
In Kenya, the Ports Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Police, and Kenya Bureau of Standards – which are directly involved in clearing goods for cross-border trade - top the list of regulators that face sanctions for expensive delays in shipments.
The legal instrument would give the EAC Secretariat teeth to force member states to honour agreements reached at regional level. At the moment, the five countries rely on the good will of member states to implement regional deals.
Among the disputes that EAC Secretariat has handled lately, Kenya has reported Uganda for banning its beef and imposing stringent certification procedures for milk. Uganda on the other hand has reported Kenya for imposing levies on its tea destined for auction at Mombasa.
Alongside Burundi and Rwanda, Uganda has also accused Kenya of forcing transit trucks registered within the region to apply for permits to carry Kenyan products. The three landlocked countries have also accused Kenya and Tanzania of corruption in erecting several police roadblocks and along the Northern and Central Corridors, weighbridges and border gates.
“There is a general feeling that not all NTBs should attract legal sanctions”, Dr Sezibera said yesterday at a forum organised by TradeMark East Africa and attended by traders, government officials from across the region and a delegation from Denmark.
The private sector blames legal voids for slowing integration within the 133 million population market.
“There must be some way of forcing states to move beyond policy declarations since NTBs in the region are well known but never addressed,” said Carole Kariuki, CEO of Kenya Private Sector Alliance. Traders have proposed that only the NTBs that result from malice should attract sanctions from the Secretariat, with owners being forced to compensate traders.
“If I compare how efficiently ports are run in Singapore (where I worked before) with the way it is done in Mombasa, I see an obvious skill deficit – not malice,” said Yaw Nsarkoh, managing director of Unilever East & Southern Africa.
He said a legal framework would result in a clear dispute resolution mechanism where traders automatically know where to seek redress.
Congestion at the Port of Mombasa topped the list of concerns that forced members of the East Africa Business Council - under pressure from landlocked countries – to pay a courtesy call on President Kibaki two weeks ago.
Danish minister for Development Cooperation Christian Bach said clear dispute resolution mechanisms would see trade thrive in the region.
