A diplomatic row between Uganda and Rwanda is posing a threat to regional integration, East African Community (EAC) secretariat has warned, even as it called for a truce.

It told journalists in Nairobi yesterday that it has dispatched teams to both Uganda and Rwanda on a “fact finding mission” as it seeks to help resolve the continuing standoff.

The regional body said the row is an impediment to the ongoing discussions to harmonise EAC Common External Tariff (CET), an annex of the EAC Customs Union Protocol, which guides duty charged on products imported into the community.

Existing tariff

EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko said this is adding to the existing tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) which have continued to derail intra-regional trade.

“Every single time when goods cannot move, businesses suffer. When business people cannot take their goods to another country whether it is from Uganda to Rwanda, or Rwanda to Uganda, or from Tanzania to Kenya, every single time we face these situations they are detrimental to businesses, he said.

“We have our experts in Rwanda, we have our experts in Uganda for a fact finding mission. We are going to have a report very soon and from the report as EAC, we will be able to engage the partner States,” Mfumukeko added.

A meeting to discuss CET is scheduled for Arusha later this week but industry captains and EAC secretariat are concerned over diplomatic and trade standoffs in the region, saying apart from the two countries Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi have also had differences with respective neighbours, which could hurt harmonisation talks.

Kenya for instance, is pushing to have the ban on beef and beef products by Uganda lifted. The Animal diseases (selective importation of livestock, livestock products and by-products) regulation 2003 has continued to hurt Kenyan exports to her neighbour. Nairobi wants the schedule amended to include Kenya as a BSE free country and restrictions eliminated. BSE stands for-Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease.

The country is also concerned over non-recognition of Certificate of Origin by member states mainly on confectionery items. Last year, Uganda and Tanzania instituted a ban on the tax-free importation of confectionery items from Kenya against the East Africa Community regulations.

Industrial sugar

The two EAC member states cited the use of industrial sugar in the sweets as their primary reason for the ban, where they said chocolate, ice cream, biscuits and sweets made by Kenyan companies cannot be certified to be locally made when one of the ingredients is imported.

The two have been rejecting certificates of origin issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) showing the items are a product of Kenya.

Kenya has been losing ground on her exports to the region where in 2017, total exports to EAC peers were valued at Sh114.8 billion, a drop from Sh121.7 billion the previous year.

Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania have also had past trade wars on specific items under the EAC Common Market Protocol. The East Africa Business Council yesterday noted that EAC continues to lag behind with low levels of intra-regional trade.

While regional trade in the EAC is close to 26 per cent, it is relatively low compared to other blocs such as Southern African Development Community  SADC (47 per cent) and the European Union at 67 per cent.

Source: Media Max

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