East Africa: EU Downplays Tanzania's Decision to Opt Out of EPA

Dar/Arusha — Despite Tanzania's recent
decision to pull out of the Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA), the European
Union (EU) has said it is forging ahead with
plans to sign the deal with the East African
Community (EAC).
The head of the EU Delegation to Tanzania,
Mr Roeland van de Geer, said the decision to
sign or not to sign the already negotiated
agreement was for the EAC to determine.
"The EU is ready to sign the EPA, and it is
hoped that the EAC will also be ready to sign
in the near future. That decision is for the EAC
and its member states to take," Mr van de Geer
told The Citizen through email.

Tanzania announced last week that it would
not sign the EPA during a ceremony scheduled
for next week in Nairobi. Tanzania, along
with Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi,
negotiated the trade agreement with EU for
more than a decade before a deal was
apparently reached.
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Aziz Mlima
said last Friday, that the decision was not
based on Britain's decision to exit the EU, but
more specifically on what he described as
"national interests." He said the decision was
meant to protect Tanzania's nascent
industries.
Mr van de Geer spoke as the EAC technocrat
behind the 14 years of negotiations said he
was still optimistic Tanzania would come
along. Elsewhere, reports in Kenya said the
country's Foreign Affairs minister, Ms Amina
Mohammed, was due in the country to hold
talks with the government over its decision.
Kenya's exports to Europe would be hardest hit
should the EAC fail to sign the EPA.
That is the same position confirmed by Mr van
de Geer in his email to The Citizen. He said
trade relations between the EU and Tanzania
would not be directly affected by the EPA not
being signed as Tanzania enjoys preferential
access to the EU as a least developed country.

As a middle income country, Kenya's exports to
the EU would attract up to 25 per cent duty if
the EPA is not signed. Access to EU market is
different depending on the strength of the
local economies.
"It is envisaged that Tanzania will reach the
Middle Income Level over the next few years
...and then the different rule will apply,"
noted Mr van de Geer.
A top EAC official in Arusha said Tanzania's
failure to sign the EPA would adversely affect
the bloc's trade arrangements with the outside
world, and eventually undermine the
integration process.
It would cause more inconsistencies for the
region that will have to employ different trade
regimes with the EU and complicate
enforcement of the common external tariffs
(CET) for goods entering the region from
outside the bloc.
"We are a customs union. When goods enter
the region we are subjected to one CET. The
agreement cannot work perfectly when one is
not there," said Mr Peter Kiguta, director
general of Customs and Trade at the EAC
headquarters.

The Citizen.

I conquer with gvt, protectionism is inevitable.let Kenyans who will benefit on horticulture exportation move on.

Let them go for their own way. After all we have all along benefited nothing other than lossing factories we had.

Bado Tanzania haijawa vizuri kiuwezo kuweza kunufaika na hiyo EPA.. Tungoje at least miaka mitano..