DOING BUSINESS ALONG THE NOTHERN CORRIDOR : NTBs AND OTHER CHALLENGES José Maciel Director, Trade Facilitation (Non-Transport) TradeMark East Africa 20th November 2012

THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR

THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR Within EAC, the corridor begins at Mombasa port to Bujumbura via Uganda and Rwanda, covering 1,970 kilometres Outside EAC, connects to South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia On average 600 trucks use the corridor daily

DOING BUSINESS ALONG THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR: NTBs 1. Behind-the border Police road-blocks Kenya: 24 (Business Climate Index Survey, 2011) Uganda: 21 Burundi: 4 Rwanda: 2 Weigh-bridges (1-3 hours spent on each weighbridge): Kenya: 12 weighbridges Uganda: 5 Corruption

DOING BUSINESS ALONG THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR: NTBs 2. At the Border Lack of mutual recognition of standards marks and retesting of goods; additional time to reach the market and costs associated with retesting goods Multiplicity of regulatory bodies; NSBs, SPS authorities

NTBs – Impact Study EAC & COMESA, 2009 On average, NTBs added >5% to landed cost of goods. On average 20% of annual shipments faced some form of NTBs. For some companies it was 100%. Average direct additional cost of NTBs per shipment was US$3,500 – excluding bribes! It was often taking an average of 6 days to clear goods through Customs. Average cost of border delays (where experienced) was 11% of landed cost Companies spend approx US$145,000 per month on employees time and accommodation costs due to NTBs and delays.

NTBs: TMEA INTERVENTIONS Legally binding mechanism with possibility of sanctions: draft law with the EAC now Bilateral negotiations Survey of NTBs along Northern Corridor (Mombasa-Kigali) for production of a documentary film Strengthening NMCs Online monitoring system Regional harmonization of standards EACQIS

Asanteni Sana!