Kenya accused of flouting COMESA trade rules

by Johan Burger

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) recently encountered a fierce trade dispute involving some of Africa's largest economies. According to a Comesa lobbyist, this followed the Kenyan decision to impose tariffs of up to 25% on goods from the regional economic trading block. According to the Comesa Business Council (CBC), Kenyan customs authorities flouted Comesa guidelines by applying non-preferential customs duties on Comesa origin goods.

Businesses in several Comesa countries reported that their products were stuck at various ports of entry to Kenya. Several countries therefore lodged complaints against Kenya amid the cancellation of pre-existing orders due to the measures imposed by Nairobi. Amongst others, the Egyptian government reportedly directed a complaint to the Kenyan government to protest the decision to impose a 25% tariff on Egyptian exports in violation of the Comesa free trade agreement.

Kenya maintains that it had not imposed any tariffs on goods from Comesa members. The Egyptian government requested a clarification to formulate a response to mitigate the impact of the decision on its exporters. According to the CBC, Kenya’s decision also affected non-Comesa countries that have long enjoyed preferential treatment from the EAC.^[1]