EALA MPs tour border posts

Jul 19, 2006

THE delay to operationalise the East African Community Customs Management Act threatens the implementation of the regional customs union, the EALA has heard.

By Milton Olupot

THE delay to operationalise the East African Community Customs Management Act threatens the implementation of the regional customs union, the EALA has heard.

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) committee on communication, trade and investment, on an on-spot assessment of the implementation of the Union, is holding public hearings at the major customs border posts in the three partner states of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

While meeting the business community and stakeholders at the Castle Hotel Mombasa, Kenya on Tuesday, they agreed to press the EAC Council of Ministers to enact regulations to operationalise the Act and standardise customs regulations.

The new regulations are expected to bring in force harmonised tariff structures and to update the three countries’ computer systems to take into account the new common external tariff (NET) duty structures.

The committee is chaired by George Nagale (Tanzania) and comprises Irene Ovonji (Uganda), Sarah Bagalaliwo (Uganda), Yona Kanyomozi (Uganda), Isaac Sepetu (Tanzania), Mabere Marando (Tanzania), Calist Mwatela (Kenya) and Hajji Abdirahim Haither Abdi (Kenya).

The MPs on Tuesday visited the east Coast Province headquarters and the Kenya Ports Authority, where they met stakeholders before the public hearing, in a tour sponsored by the Fredrich Ebert Foundation.

The business community, led by the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing national chairman, Joseph Ngetic, was concerned that although the EAC management Act came into effect on January 1 2005, it was not yet operational and various conflicting regulations from individual member states were still in force.

“The situation will be made worse when Rwanda and Burundi join the community. The current situation should be reversed by enacting the EAC regulations and put them in use,” Ngetic said.

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