Arusha
---August 23, 2016 –East African Business
Council (EABC), through its Standards
Platform, is organising a Public, Private Dialogue (PPD) on technical
regulations, slated for 1st to 2nd September at
Imperial Royale Hotel, in Kampala, Uganda.
The main objective behind the PPD, supported by
Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) and sponsored by USAID East Africa Trade Hub, is
to hold candid deliberations between the public and private sector on the issue
of technical regulations in the East African Community (EAC).
“In particular, the PPD will discuss on how technical
regulations in the EAC affect intra-regional trade and come up with recommendations
on what should be done to ensure that they facilitate trade instead” says EABC Chief Executive Officer,
Ms Lilian Awinja.
The Regional PPD is expected to bring together nearly
60 participants from both public and private sector, including members of the East Africa
Standards Committee, manufacturers associations,
EAC manufacturers, representatives from the
Ministries of Trade, EAC, EAC Secretariat, National Food and Drug Authorities, National Bureaus of Standards, National
monitoring Committees
on
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)
and National enquiry points,
Development Partners among others.
Trade plays an essential role in the economies of the EAC Partner States in terms
of GDP
contribution and exports
earnings, job creation and income generation.
While the share of intra-EAC trade has increased since the Customs Union was established,
it still remains low compared to other regional blocs like the European Union
(EU); and in
fact declined by
3 per cent from $5,805.6
million in 2013 to $ 5,632.9 million
in 2014.
Ms Awinja says that this was mainly driven by a decrease of 12.7
per cent in intra-EAC exports in the period under review.
Several factors contribute
to the low
levels of intra-EAC trade
when comparing
to
other regions, one
of them being economic and policy
issues that emerge from the linkages between trade, regional integration and product standards.
Standards set out characteristics
which products, processes
or systems
are required
or encouraged
to meet. Standards support compatibility and drive down costs through the use of common parts, specifications and methods.
They create new industries and allow the potential of new technologies to be exploited.
“Standards are used by the authorities to safeguard society and the environment. Hence,
compliance with
standards is absolutely crucial to realize
and maintain
market access” EABC boss explains.
However, given that standards are not typically designed with trade in mind, they can end up being a barrier to trade, Ms Awinja warns.
Development and implementation
of
standards is undertaken within a complex and
costly
framework of public and private institutions, which often proves challenging for countries due to financial and technical constraints.
There are various elements related to standards – from standardization itself, to
compliance
and conformity assessment, to certification and lastly the overall quality
infrastructure for testing.
Within
the context of EAC integration, another challenge related
to standards
especially for businesses is the issue
of unharmonised standards and
differing regulatory framework for technical regulations across EAC Partner
States.
This dual challenge generates additional costs for businesses
trading across the EAC borders, as businesses are often forced to
redesign products to meet
the standards
of different markets or have their products re-tested and re-certified, which leads to duplication
of costs, thereby increasing the cost of production.
In the EAC Partner States, a system of Mandatory Standards has been implemented. While these are similar in concept, implementation varies.
Partner States require products falling within the scope of Mandatory Standards to be marked with the Product Certification Mark of the National Standards Body if they are manufactured in the exporting EAC Partner State.
In the case of
imported products, most Partner States operate Import Inspection schemes with differing requirements and these include Pre-shipment verification of conformity (PVoC), destination
inspection (DI) at entry points
of the importing country, among others.
The National Standards
Bodies are the custodians of the standards
that
have been declared mandatory and their conformity assessment requirements.
The EAC Treaty (1999) provides for cooperation in the areas of Standardization,
Quality Assurance, Metrology
and Testing
(SQMT).
The SQMT
Act, which was enacted
in 2006 provides
a framework for the development and
implementation of SQMT
activities in the EAC. The Act provides for the establishment of structures for SQMT activities, including the East African
Standards Committee (EASC), the Technical Sub- committees such as the East African Standards Technical Sub-Committee; and also provides for the development of procedures
for harmonization
of standards. To date, EAC has
about 1500 number of harmonized standards.
Despite the existence of the SQMT Act,
the
difference in standards and technical regulations
continue to hinder intra- EAC trade, to dampen free flow of goods and trade among Partner
States and reduce product competitiveness.
Exporters frequently face difficulties in
gaining access to markets due to
requirements that products be tested
and assessed in the importing country to ensure that local regulatory requirements are met.
To address this challenge, the EAC started the process of reviewing the SQMT Act in 2011, with a view to align it with new developments at the EAC,
but also ensure compliance with the requirements of WTO TBT agreement,
among others. As part of this review, the following
has been agreed:
Expansion of
the East
African Standards Committee
(EASC) to
include
5
more members per each (though this needs to be included in the amended Act)
Approval and declaration
of
East African Standards
be
the responsibility of EASC
instead of the Council.
Amendment of the
SQMT title to read as
“Standardization,
Accreditation and
Conformity Assessment “(SACA) Bill 2015;
Inclusion under
the functions of the EASC the establishment of a framework for the development and implementation of the technical regulations in order to
ensure
transparency in
the
development and implementation of the Technical
Regulations/Compulsory standards including SQMT regulations;
To revise section 24(5)i of the SACA bill 2015 to read “Partner States where there is a multiple
regulatory
control
by other authorities,
notified
product
certification
marks from the other Partner States shall be used as sole criteria for instant registration or clearance without subjecting products to further evaluation or testing process”.
Discussions
on
the proposed
SACA Bill 2015 are
yet to be completed with
the most contentious provision being section 24(5) i which states that “Partner States where there is a multiple regulatory control by other authorities, notified product certification marks from the other Partner States shall be used as sole criteria for instant registration or
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