Summary

• Kenyan vegetable and cut flower producers are set to access the British market more efficiently and cheaply.
• The UK, which voted to leave the 27-member economic bloc in 2016, formally left the bloc on January 31, 2020.
• TIP is the first digital trade corridor to be established between the UK and a developing country since the UK’s exit from the EU.

Kenyan vegetable and cut flower producers are set to access the British market more efficiently and cheaply, following a plan to eliminate paperwork in trade between the two countries with long-standing historical ties.

The plan, which is still under discussion, is set to make Kenyan exports to the United Kingdom market more competitive, just seven months after the two countries signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) in London in December 2020, ensuring continuity of their trade relations after the British government voted to exit the European Union (EU).

The UK, which voted to leave the 27-member economic bloc in 2016, formally left the bloc on January 31, 2020, with a transitional period of up to December 31, 2020, to negotiate new trade agreements with countries it was trading with under the EU terms.

The Kenya-UK EPA allows Kenyan products unfettered access to the British market, free of duty and quota restrictions.

On Monday, July 26, Kenyan-based non-profit making organisation TradeMark Africa (TMA), and the UK-based Institute of Export and International Trade ((IOE&IT), signed a memorandum of understanding providing a framework for collaboration in the implementation of a digital trade corridor between the UK and Kenya.

The Agreement, which was signed in London, provides for the implementation of the UK-Kenya Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP), which aims to eliminate paperwork and introduce much better visibility up and down supply chains that flow between the two countries.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.