E. African body says food, drugs hard-hit by non-tariff barriers

NAIROBI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The apex body of business associations in the East African Community (EAC) on Wednesday said food, drugs and cosmetics are the most affected by non-tariff barriers in intra-EAC trade.

East African Business Council (EABC) Executive Director Lilian Awinja told Xinhua in Nairobi that trade barriers of most other products have been resolved and these goods are freely flowing across the EAC member states.

"The main reason why food, drugs and cosmetics face trade barriers at the EAC border points is due to lack of harmonized standards across the three sectors," Awinja said during a media briefing.

EABC draws membership from private sector organizations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

The regional body has already established an East African Private Sector Standards Platform that addresses trade barriers faced by suppliers in intra-regional trade that are caused by differences in technical regulations among EAC member states.

Awinja noted that while Kenya and Tanzania have foods standards bodies, Uganda is yet to fully operationalize its organization.

"This has resulted in different laws on food safety that have hampered intra-EAC trade," she said.

The East African Legislative Assembly has already endorsed the EAC Standardization, Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SACA) Bill that seeks to harmonize foods, drugs and cosmetics standards across the region.

The heads of states of the EAC partner countries are set to sign the bill so that it becomes law later this year. Enditem