- Alleging “unfair trade practices’’, by barring a number of Ugandan exports to Kenya, the Uganda Manufacturers Association has threatened to take Kenya to the East African Court of Justice to get redress.
- UMA, the umbrella association of Ugandan industrialists and manufacturers issued a statement reporting that Kenya was questioning the origin of Uganda’s products, even of those with valid certificates of origin
Alleging “unfair trade practices’’, by barring a number of Ugandan exports to Kenya, the Uganda Manufacturers Association has threatened to take Kenya to the East African Court of Justice to get redress. UMA, the umbrella association of Ugandan industrialists and manufacturers issued a statement reporting that Kenya was questioning the origin of Uganda’s products, even of those with valid certificates of origin. Even products with the “Q” mark issued by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, are branded as counterfeit products by the Kenyan authorities. In a statement, UMA has threatened to bar Kenyan goods from entering Uganda, and if the issue is not settled by end of December 2020, they will seek redress at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).
The Kenyan side claims that the list includes goods from Uganda that are smuggled into Kenya to evade taxes. Kenya has instituted permits that water down the EAC Common Market through unilateral restrictions against Ugandan-originating goods. Poultry products, liquid petroleum gas canisters and sugar are some of the locally manufactured products that have been denied access to the Kenyan market.
The executive director of UMA, Daniel Birungi urged Kenya to reciprocate in the spirit of the regional integration of EAC Common Market Protocol that advocates free movement of goods and services across the borders. He added that Kenya had always benefited from access to cheap Ugandan raw materials and fresh produce for their agro–processing industry and market for finished products. According to UMA, since 2017, when Uganda managed to report for the first ever trade surplus with Kenya, it intensified non-tariff barriers against Uganda. The standoff between Uganda and Kenya could have far reaching consequences to the trade and trade balance between the two EAC neighbours.
