By LUKE ANAMI

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Failure to harmonise and enact a full standardisation law is affecting intra trade within the East Africa with Uganda on the spot for stalling the enactment of the EAC Standards Act.

The process is also very slow thereby affecting business as more than half the members are yet to meet the threshold required.

Global and regional trade depends on standards, quality assurance, metrology and testing to establish confidence between customers and suppliers.

Within the EAC, it is the legal structure that is yet to be fully in place further jeopardising trends on standards, quality assurance metrology and testing activities that are essential to improve productivity and ensure social and economic development in the region.

Indeed, the EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva is concerned that despite efforts to ensure legislation on standards, a decision by Uganda is holding the Bill from being enacted thereby stalling the legal process.

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“The legal drafting of the two draft Bills was finalised and referred to Eala. The draft EAC Metrology Bill, 2022 was presented to the 24th meeting of the SCLJA in July 2023 for consideration and approval, however following comments from Uganda the Bill was deferred to proceed to Eala,” said Nduva.

Over time the EAC has developed a number of instruments towards the realisation of the objectives of the SQMT Act, 2006. On the finalisation of the Standardisation, Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SACA) Act and Metrology Bill, the technical review of the SQMT Act 2006 was finalised as per the 16th Council directive to separate matters relating to metrology from standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment.

The Act was split into two Bills. One to provide for matters of metrology (Metrology Bill) and another to provide for standardisation, accreditation, and conformity assessment (SACA Bill).

The procedures are intended to ensure that the EAC Standards harmonisation is consistent with global best practices as defined in the WTO TBT Agreement and the WTO Code of Good Practice for the development and harmonisation of Standards.

“The SCTIFI 44 declared 85 Final Draft East African Standards (FDEAS) (Decision 19); and endorsed the list of 53 international standards and three regional standards normatively referenced in the Final FDEAS and specifications for adoption by Partner States Decision 20,” said Nduva.

“So it is in the interest of partner states to adopt all the regionally harmonised standards to ease and facilitate movement of goods.”
Out of over 2000 standards that are being harmonised, partner states are yet to recognise what each country has standardised.

Harmonised standards

While a total of 700 Standards have been harmonised regionally, the EAC member States are at different levels of adoption and implementation lowering barriers to trade and reducing confidence between customers and suppliers.

“A total of 700 Standards have been harmonised regionally. However, Partner States are at different levels of adoption and implementation,” said Nduva.

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“Kenya is doing well because out of 700 it has harmonised between 644. That is 92 percent. However, cumulatively there is no progress in harmonising the standards and regulations and this affects trade.” Standards lower barriers to trade, allowing businesses to access a global customer base, offering opportunities for economies of scale and reducing production costs.

Compatibility standards promote opportunities for firms to outsource and offshore certain tasks, promoting efficiency and business optimisation.

“The status of adoption is that South Sudan has attained 700 (100 percent). Kenya is at 644 – 92 percent, Rwanda 628 - 89.7 percent, Tanzania 595 – 85 percent, Uganda 567 – 81 percent and Burundi 525 – 75percent,” said Nduva.

“DRC & Somalia who recently joined the EAC have received the standards and are in the process of adoption.”

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), during the roundtable meeting with the EAC Secretary General, said lack of harmonised standards have affected Kenyan goods exports to EAC especially Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

“Standards and permits for importing goods are not uniformly applied, which creates uncertainty and delays at the borders,” said Carole Kariuki, CEO of Kepsa.

She proposed a number of interventions that could reduce the time taken to clear goods between partner states and ensure revenue collection by the Customs officials at the borders.

“Therefore, establishing a single window digital platform where importers and exporters can access harmonized information and guidelines in real-time would be a significant step forward,” said Ms. Kariuki.

“This platform should allow for instant resolution of queries and ensure that directives from authorities are consistently applied across all member states. Such a system would encourage new entrepreneurs to enter the market by providing a clear and predictable trading environment.”

“Currently, importers face varying requirements and levies despite sourcing from the same jurisdiction and dealing with similar products under the same Harmonized System (HS) codes,” said Kariuki.

She gave the example of importers in Rwanda and Uganda who often encounter discrepancies in levies for identical goods, leading to inconsistencies that hinder trade efficiency.