Politics and policy
A worker packs flowers for export. The EAC bloc is expected to open up
to 80pc of its market to EU products in next 15 years under the trade
deal that saw the return of preferential market access. PHOTO | FILE
By BDAfrica.com REPORTER
In Summary
- As of Christmas Day (December 25), Kenyan goods will once again enter the European Union market without tariffs or quota limits.
- Exporters of cut flowers, fresh produce and other goods that have been subject to taxes and quota limits since October 1 this year.
Kenya has been fast-tracked back
onto the list of states that export goods to the European Union
duty-free and without quota limits, EU officials say.
“As of Christmas Day (December 25),
Kenyan goods will once again enter the European Union market without
tariffs or quota limits,” EU Ambassador Lodewijk Briët announced in a
statement put out on Christmas Eve.
“This means the Sh200 billion
of Kenya exports that are sold in Europe will remain competitive and
Europe will remain Kenya's largest export market.”
The news comes a month earlier
than expected and will cheer exporters of cut flowers, fresh produce
and other mainly agricultural goods that have been subject to taxes and
quota limits since October 1 this year.
The duties and limits (set
under the EU's Generalised System of Preferences) were imposed after the
East African Community states missed a deadline to negotiate and sign
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU.
The move ended about 30 years of preferential trade
with Europe and was costing Kenyan exporters hundreds of millions of
shillings a month.
Agreement between EAC member states on the text of the EPAs
was reached in mid-October. Following an appeal by President Uhuru
Kenyatta to then EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht that month, the EU
promised to speed up Kenya’s return to the preferential regime,
expected to take “three to six months”.
As recently as last month, EU officials working on
the red tape were saying that the return of market access was likely to
happen in January.
On November 14, the European
Commission decided that Kenyan exports should again be exempted from all
import duties on the basis of the Market Access Regulation (MAR). The
European Parliament and the Council, thereafter, sped up their
respective procedures and approved the Commission's decision.
Kenya is the only EAC member that does not fall
into the category of a Least Developed Countries (LDC). As such, it
needs an EPA to export its products to the EU market duty-free and
quota-free.
The Market Access Regulation is a transitory
arrangement that offers such preferences to EU partners in anticipation
of the ratification of the EPA.
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