Trade, Industry and Cooperatives CS Adan Mohamed
A parliamentary siting saw the ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union to give the country an extension of quota-free, duty-free market access to the EU after September 30. The ratification paves way for a three-month window period to January 8 when East African Community heads of states are expected to meet on the EPA after the Dar-es-Salam talks this month failed conclude in a signed pact.
Kenya exports are at risk of attracting taxes of between 4 and 22 per cent if EAC fails to agree, which will make local products noncompetitive in Europe. Only Rwanda and Kenya have signed the EPA which requires the signatures of all member states for it to be valid.
A copy of the EPA that MPs ratified Tuesday will be submitted to the European Union as proof of Kenya’s commitment to boost free trade with the 27-member bloc and the minister will have 10 days to notify the EU council of the ratified agreement to save our exports from duties once we hit the October deadline. The East African Community (EAC) nations have been negotiating EPAs in the last 10 years without conclusion and 0n September 1, Kenya teamed and Rwanda to sign the pact that MPs ratified Tuesday.
According to MoITC Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed, the move ensured that Kenya retained her EU markets and and avoided the risk of facing a Sh10 billion-a-year tax on exports. “This is the best deal for Kenya because if we failed to sign we would have been subjected to other conditions which the rest of our neighbors are not subject to. We had to do it before October 1 to enjoy access to the European markets,” he said at a press briefing in Nairobi.
Kenya is the only State classified as developing country among the EAC’s six members and ships close to 32 per cent of its exports to Europe. The ratification of the EPA means Kenya is committed to the agreement, thus averting negative ramifications for the economy that pose threats to jobs in the agricultural sector. In 2015 alone, the country exported Sh581 billion worth of products to different parts of the world.
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