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[h=1]Dar does not allow outward direct investment, Nairobi, Kampala do[/h]
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Trucks await clearance at the Mutukula border between Uganda and Tanzania. Photo/FILE
By JOINT REPORT Special Correspondents
Posted Saturday, February 22 2014 at 13:31
In Summary
Tanzania and Burundi have retained the highest number of restrictions to cross-border trade and flow of foreign direct investment in the East African region, a new assessment of the bloc shows.
This is affecting the free movement of capital, services and goods, and adding to the cost of doing business in the region, notes the scorecard released on Tuesday.
The East African Common Market Score Card 2014: Tracking EAC Compliance in the Movement of Capital, Services and Goods, reviews 683 laws and regulations, focusing on the level of conformity by each partner state to the Common Market Protocol that came into force in July 2010.
EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera said this review is meant to foster peer learning and facilitate the adoption of best practices in the region.
This will strengthen the regional market, grow the private sector and deliver benefits to consumers, said Dr Sezibera.
Since the Common Market Protocol was implemented, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have introduced at least 10 restrictions on the movement of capital. In services, several new restrictions have been introduced or carried over from older laws.
And for the case of goods, since the enactment of the Customs Union Protocol on January 1, 2005, 51 non-tariff barriers (NTBs) arising from regulatory measures by governments were identified between 2008 and June 2013.
While the EAC partner states had in principle agreed to remove NTBs by December 2012, in the absence of a legally binding framework, action has depended largely on the willingness of countries.
READ: Cost of doing business in EA could come down as non-tariff barriers reduce
As a result, only two out of the 20 capital operations in the region are free of restrictions. These are external borrowing by residents and repatriation of proceeds from sale of assets. All other 18 operations have at least one partner state restricting the operation.
Kenya, which has 17 unrestricted operations, makes it easier for capital to move across the bloc. Burundi and Tanzania have only four unrestricted operations.
As a result, the East African partner states are still lagging behind in implementing the Common Market Protocol, just one-and-a-half years away from the deadline, mid next year.
Permanent Secretary at Tanzanias Ministry of EAC Co-operation Joyce Mapunjo, pledged to review the laws within a year to conform to the EAC Common Market Protocol regime.
Although changing a law in Tanzania is a lengthy process, one reason the country seems to be lagging behind others in aligning its laws with those of EAC Treaty, the process has started, said Ms Mapunjo.
Tanzania embarked on amending four key laws in 2011 land, labour and immigration and general business to comply with the EAC Common Market Protocol.
1 | 2 | 3 Next Page»
By JOINT REPORT Special Correspondents
Posted Saturday, February 22 2014 at 13:31
In Summary
- East African Common Market Score Card 2014: Tracking EAC Compliance in the Movement of Capital, Services and Goods, reviews 683 laws and regulations, focusing on the level of conformity by each partner state to the Common Market Protocol that came into force in July 2010.
- Since the Common Market Protocol was implemented, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have introduced at least 10 restrictions on the movement of capital. In services, several new restrictions have been introduced or carried over from older laws. And for the case of goods, 51 non-tariff barriers (NTBs) arising from regulatory measures by governments were identified between 2008 and June 2013.
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Tanzania and Burundi have retained the highest number of restrictions to cross-border trade and flow of foreign direct investment in the East African region, a new assessment of the bloc shows.
This is affecting the free movement of capital, services and goods, and adding to the cost of doing business in the region, notes the scorecard released on Tuesday.
The East African Common Market Score Card 2014: Tracking EAC Compliance in the Movement of Capital, Services and Goods, reviews 683 laws and regulations, focusing on the level of conformity by each partner state to the Common Market Protocol that came into force in July 2010.
EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera said this review is meant to foster peer learning and facilitate the adoption of best practices in the region.
This will strengthen the regional market, grow the private sector and deliver benefits to consumers, said Dr Sezibera.
Since the Common Market Protocol was implemented, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have introduced at least 10 restrictions on the movement of capital. In services, several new restrictions have been introduced or carried over from older laws.
And for the case of goods, since the enactment of the Customs Union Protocol on January 1, 2005, 51 non-tariff barriers (NTBs) arising from regulatory measures by governments were identified between 2008 and June 2013.
While the EAC partner states had in principle agreed to remove NTBs by December 2012, in the absence of a legally binding framework, action has depended largely on the willingness of countries.
READ: Cost of doing business in EA could come down as non-tariff barriers reduce
As a result, only two out of the 20 capital operations in the region are free of restrictions. These are external borrowing by residents and repatriation of proceeds from sale of assets. All other 18 operations have at least one partner state restricting the operation.
Kenya, which has 17 unrestricted operations, makes it easier for capital to move across the bloc. Burundi and Tanzania have only four unrestricted operations.
As a result, the East African partner states are still lagging behind in implementing the Common Market Protocol, just one-and-a-half years away from the deadline, mid next year.
Permanent Secretary at Tanzanias Ministry of EAC Co-operation Joyce Mapunjo, pledged to review the laws within a year to conform to the EAC Common Market Protocol regime.
Although changing a law in Tanzania is a lengthy process, one reason the country seems to be lagging behind others in aligning its laws with those of EAC Treaty, the process has started, said Ms Mapunjo.
Tanzania embarked on amending four key laws in 2011 land, labour and immigration and general business to comply with the EAC Common Market Protocol.
1 | 2 | 3 Next Page»