The regulation and impact of non-tariff barriers in the East African community customs union

Abstract

This thesis critically analyses the effectiveness of the non -tariff barriers’ legal and institutional framework under the East African Community Customs Union. To this end, it identifies and discusses a list of non-tariff barriers to trade that are still prevalent in the EAC region despite the prohibition for their use under the EAC Customs Union Protocol. The list of these Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) is made up of quantitative restrictions, customs procedures and administrative requirements, technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government participation in trade, lack of infrastructure, restrictive rules of origin and antidumping measures. Their impact is also addressed using some case studies based on the experience of businesses and people trading in the region. The dissertation will conclude that the widespread and continued existence of NTBs in the region is as a result of a weak regulatory framework aimed at addressing them. In order to illustrate this, this dissertation highlights the gaps that exist in the 2015 EAC’s elimination of non-tariff barriers Act and other legislations. Lastly, in providing a solution to the persistence of NTBs in the EAC the dissertation draws recommendations from successful NTBs reduction strategies applicable to other regional economic communities. Such recommendations would be drawn from; the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).