Missed opportunities: the WTO trade policy review for the East African community

Oliver Morrissey, Chris Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The East African Community (EAC), comprising Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, came into force on 7 July 2000 with a Common External Tariff (CET) established in January 2005. This Trade Policy Review (TPR) of the EAC is timely as all three countries had implemented significant trade liberalisation since the late 1980s while the CET represented an asymmetric change – Kenya and Tanzania essentially reduced tariffs whereas Uganda increased tariffs. The TPR provides considerable information on the CET and on trade and related policies in each of the member countries. However, the EAC and the TPR missed a number of opportunities: the EAC included no coordinated export promotion or investment provisions, while the TPR says little on the potential for intra-regional trade, and nor does it address the position of the EAC in the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) being negotiated with the EU. This review concentrates on these omissions to explore the implications of the EAC for developments in trade policy in the region.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1409-1432
Number of pages24
JournalWorld Economy
Volume31
Issue number11
Early online date23 Nov 2008
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2008

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Missed opportunities: the WTO trade policy review for the East African community'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this