The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Arusha, Tanzania | THE INDEPENDENT | The East African Business Council (EABC), the umbrella body for the region’s business community, has called for a peaceful end to the brewing Uganda-Kenya trade war.
The EABC has called for a bilateral dialogue aimed at eliminating all outstanding Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)between the two countries. This follows the current escalation in the trade dispute regarding the continued ban on imports of Ugandan poultry products especially eggs, into Kenya.
The ban has been in place for almost a year now, having been announced by Kenya earlier in the year to allegedly protect her domestic farmers, especially during the first lockdown when prices plunged.
Despite calls by Ugandan farmers and Kenyan traders on Nairobi to lift the ban, there is no solution in sight, and this has forced Uganda into reciprocal measures, which the EABC says is not good for the region.
“In line with the spirit of the Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community, the EABC urges the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Uganda to hold a bilateral dialogue to avoid a trade stalemate and retaliation due to the imposition of NTBs,” says the council.
On Monday this week, the Ugandan cabinet reviewed the situation a d decided that Kampala had been patient enough and that all its efforts have been fruitile.
This was followed by the approval of retaliation against Kenya, which will see certain agricultural items from Kenya banned on the Ugandan market.
The East African Community Affairs Minister Rebecca Kadaga said on Wednesday, that cabinet had directed the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries to immediately identify commodities from Kenya, whose importation to Uganda can be banned.
She revealed this while receiving a petition by the Ugandan farmers’ leadership calling on the two governments to take action.
“EABC believes that retaliation is not and should not be the ultimate solution but rather the two sisterly nations should sit together to resolve all outstanding issues amicably,” Chief Executive John Bosco Kaliisa said.
Intra-EAC trade remains very low at 15 percent of total trade compared to other regions in Africa and worldwide, and the EABC fears this could even fall further due to ro the standoffs.
“This low figure is attributed due to the denials of preferential market access to EAC originating products and new trade measures on retaliation will reduce trade further, affect employment, market access, economies of scale of our industries and the well-being of East Africans,” said Kaliisa.
Kenya first banned Ugandan poultry imports in January 2017 over an Avian Flu outbreak, but the ban was maintained till 2019, long after the disease had disappeared.
The EABC says NTBs lead to a rise in transaction time and the cost of doing business across borders but also set back the competitiveness of products originating from the EAC region.
On the mushrooming NTBs, Kaliisa says that they have identified key issues which are critical in resolving the persistent bottlenecks.
“The absence of an effective EAC trade dispute settlement mechanism i.e. EAC Trade Remedies Committee; and the slow pace of resolution of NTBs by the EAC Regional Monitoring Committee (RMC) are the main causes.”
The recent Sectoral Council of Trade, Industry, Finance, and Investment meeting last month managed to resolve only two NTBs out of the outstanding 12.
The EABC now urges all EAC Partner States to eliminate all sorts of barriers imposed on goods and services produced from within the EAC bloc.
“NTBs hinder the free movement of goods as enshrined in the EAC Customs Union and Common Market Protocols at the detriment of East African manufacturers and traders – importers and exporters from both countries,” says Kaliisa.
The business community also urges EAC Partner States to ratify Article 24 (2) of the EAC Customs Union Protocol to pave way for the operationalization of the EAC Trade Remedies Committee.
The article provides for the establishment of the EAC Trade Remedies Committee tasked to handle matters of Rules of Origin, anti-dumping measures, subsidies, and countervailing measures, safeguard measures, and Dispute Settlement Mechanism.
Kaliisa cautioned on retaliation by imposing NTBs as it sets back the progress and gains made in terms of Intra-EAC trade.
“Elimination of current trade barriers will restore investors’ confidence and predictability of the business environment in the EAC bloc,” Kaliisa says. He urged for the quick convening of the bilateral public-private dialogue between Kenya and Uganda to find win-win lasting solutions on the elimination of NTBs to boost trade, economic growth, and jobs for the prosperity of all East African citizens.
Other Ugandan products that have been banned by Kenya include milk and dairy products, as well as sugar, despite an agreement with Uganda earlier this year, that they would increase imports of Ugandan Sugar.
On Tuesday, Minister for General Duties in the Prime Minister’s Office, Justine Kasule Lumumba told parliament that they will continue talking to Kenya over the trade conflicts.
Ugandan exports to Kenya were worth 465 million dollars, with the value of dairy products, eggs, honey, edible products to Kenya being 56.41 Million dollars in 2020.
Kenya is also market to 60 percent of eggs produced by Uganda, according to the Poultry Association of Uganda.
Experts fear that if there are no effective mechanisms of resolving trade and other disputes in the bloc, the integration process is headed for danger.
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