Dr. Isaac Shinyekwa (R) presents a report on Assessment of the EAC Common External Tariff Sensitive List to MTIC Officials
A preliminary report by EPRC titled “An Assessment of the EAC Common External Tariff Sensitive List on the Performance of Domestic Industries,
Welfare, Trade and Revenue”, shows that there is a deficiency in regional capacity to produce within the bloc.
The report illustrates that effective protection has not been adequately achieved despite growth in intra-EAC exports of the sensitive list products.
These products include; raw materials, capital goods, agricultural inputs, certain medicines and certain medical equipment, which were allocated a zero tariff to build capacity of local manufactures to produce locally within the regional bloc.
One of the key decisions mooted among East African member states, is to protect sensitive products through a Common External Tariff (CET), which has been ongoing since 2005.
Presenting the report to officials of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives (MTIC) in Kampala, Isaac M.B. Shinyekwa a Senior Research Fellow with the Economic Policy Research Centre said, “The demand for the sensitive products exceeds the intra-EAC regional supply, which deficit is met by imports from the rest of the world.”
He further explained that whereas EAC total exports of sensitive products to the region and the rest of the world increased from about US$ 300million in 2005 to US$ 780million in 2013, imports of the same products from outside the EAC regions increased from US$ 700million in 2005 to US$ 2.3billion in 2011 and slightly declined to US$ 1.7 billion in 2013.
The paper recommends reviewing of the EAC-CET sensitive products list considering the fact that its negative effects are likely to undermine manufacturing and consumption. It also calls for development of a fact based rational framework to determine which commodities should be included or excluded.
Mr. Raymond Agaba The Commissioner, Internal Trade, MTIC, welcomed the report saying “it is timely since a comprehensive review of the CET is underway.”