Tanzania and Kenya plans to form a joint committee and set up a channel of communication to address future trade disputes. The decision to this effect was taken during a meeting between the Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, and Ms Amina Mohamed, his Kenyan counterpart recently. The meeting was held to discuss a trade dispute arising from Kenya’s ban on cooking gas imports from Tanzania. Dr Mahiga said that in addition to the joint trade committee, the two countries would also set up a communication platform to facilitate trade consultations on a real-time basis as and when they arise. The platform will be an additional channel to sort out the real trade issues in an amicable manner without precipitating them affecting bilateral trade and other types of economic cooperation. Of late, two countries were involved in trade disputes, which took time to resolve. Some of them are yet to be brought to the negotiating table. The new arrangement, both countries are hopeful, would provide an institutional platform for sorting out issues right at the time when they trigger. One such incident involved Kenya recently banning the import of liquefied petroleum gas from Tanzania citing safety and quality standards. That did not end there. Tanzania retaliated by putting a ban on imports of cigarettes, margarine, tires etc from Kenya and prevented vehicles passing through Tanzanian territories transporting maize from Zambia to Kenya. Kenya, in turn, blocked the wheat exports from Tanzania
