THE East African Community is facing pressure to relax restrictions that make it difficult for the European Union to export manufactured and agricultural goods into Kenya, it emerged yesterday.

The Kenyan-led EAC Economic Partnership Agreements negotiating team however maintained it will not yield to pressure, saying relaxing the restrictions on EU’s exports would kill the two struggling sectors which are the backbone of EAC’s economy.

“The EU’s move to seek elimination of export taxes will kill agriculture and industrialisation in the EAC,” said Joseah Rotich of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade during a roundtable meeting organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

He said the exclusion of some products from liberalisation under the EPAs is aimed at safeguarding agriculture, industry and Kenya’s market interest in the five-member trade bloc.

The EU wants EAC to relax export taxes for its agricultural products, wines and spirits, chemicals, plastics, wood-based paper, textiles and clothing, footwear, ceramics, glassware and base metal and vehicles.

“I fail to understand why EAC is protesting about a possible inflow of goods from the EU yet they are not talking about the huge amount of manufactured goods imported from India and China which have continued to hurt the local manufacturers,” EU trade and communications counselor to Kenya Christophe De Vroey said at the forum.

He said the EPAs negotiations that were concluded in October 14 last year offer the liberalisation of 82.6 per cent of the EAC market for the EU imports within a period of 25 years, with a seven-year moratorium.

“The agreed rules under EPAs provide Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda a duty free quota free access to the EU and in turn a market opening for EU products,” he said.

The scope of the EPAs covers trade in goods, fisheries, economic cooperation and development, agriculture, customs and trade facilitation, health, technical barrier to trade, dispute resolution, good governance and obligations from the customs union agreements with the EU.

Rotich said the EU will only get liberalisation for raw materials and capital goods after the ratification of the EPAs agreement in October 2016.

“Products in the exclusion list contribute to the competitiveness of agriculture and industrial sectors,” he said.

Source: TheStar

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