Representatives of the East African Community member states are in a two-day meeting in Arusha, Tanzania to review the plan for a single customs union in the region.
In September 2011 a study was conducted with a primary purpose of developing options and modalities for the attainment of a Single Customs Territory.
The study would also recommend an appropriate SCT model suitable for the EAC and determine the most suitable institutional and legal framework for the execution of the Single Customs Territory.
Over the two-day period stakeholders, drawn from Partner States’ Ministries including Trade, EAC Affairs and Finance; and Government agencies responsible for Customs/Revenue Authorities, as well as representatives from the private sector will consider recommendations and provide inputs to enrich the final report for the proposed Single Customs Territory.
The EAC Director General for Customs and Trade, Peter Kiguta said, transformation of the EAC into a Single Customs Territory is what is required to spur liberalized trade as goods would circulate freely through the Territory.
“We still have internal controls. Goods are not circulating freely,” Kiguta remarked, adding: “As a Customs Union we are supposed to be one Customs territory.”
Meanwhile, the East African Community Secretary General, ambassador Richard Sezibera announced that the bloc will have to wait much longer before it establishes a single currency.
The announcement was made during the conference themed “EAC after 10 Years”.
“The only significant achievement that the EAC will record this year would be the signing of the Monetary Union Protocol. This would set the tone for channels through which a single currency could be formulated.”
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