Museveni in Tanzania for trade talks

President Yoweri Museveni is in Tanzania for bilateral trade talks with his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli.

Magufuli on Thursday morning welcomed Museveni at Julius Nyerere International Airport and headed to State House Dar es Salaam for talks.

The two leaders are expected to discuss various issues affecting trade relations between the countries and the region. They are also expected to discuss the second Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) that will be held in Kampala.

The JPC is expected to review the implementation of decisions agreed upon in various sectors including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline and proposed gas pipeline from Tanzania to Uganda.

The meeting comes amid a row over tariffs imposed by Tanzania on sugar imports from Uganda.

The President's visit to Tanzania is a follow up on commitments made by East African leaders months ago during the last Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) summit.

The state minister for foreign affairs, Henry Okello Oryem told New Vision on Tuesday that the matter concerning tariffs was expected to be discussed by the two leaders.

Last week, Tanzania announced it would impose a 25% import duty on Ugandan sugar exports, in spite of recent efforts to improve bilateral and trade ties.

Oryem said Tanzania's new tarrifs on Ugandan sugar were out of tune with what the East African leaders agreed on during the last northern corridor summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in June.

"We agreed that tariffs and charges on consumer products should be discussed by members of parliament. For Tanzania to increase it unfairly goes against the spirit of what was agreed," Oryem said in an interview with New Vision.

Tanzania is one of Uganda's largest trading partners with trade volumes (imports) from Tanzania in excess sh700b by the end of 2017.

The sugar tariffs spat surfaced after it emerged that Tanzanian authorities had held a consignment of about 12,000 bags (600 tonnes) of sugar exported to Tanzania by Kakira Sugar Works.

In 2010, the six East African Community member states endorsed the Common Market Protocol which recommended zero tax on goods manufactured within the region.

Through the northern corridor summits, an initiative started by presidents of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, the countries have been pushing for removal of tariffs and charges on consumer products.

The countries have been advocating for removal of barriers to cross-border transactions and services such areas as finance, telecommunications and transport.

Uganda maintains sound diplomatic and trade ties with Tanzania and the two countries have recently signed agreements to boost trade and investment in energy, infrastructure and oil and gas.

Tanzania's new tariffs target imports of processed goods (25%) and intermediate goods (10%) and but raw materials and capital goods attract zero tariffs.

Producers of processed goods such as sugar, edible oil, steel and iron products and mineral will have to between 10 and 35% access the Tanzania market.