Because EAC products have been denied preferential market access as a result of trade sanctions, intra-EAC trade is currently at a low of 15 per cent, which will worsen employment opportunities, market access, and the economies of scale of our sectors for East Africans as a whole.

NTBs not only increase the time and cost of doing business across borders, but they also reduce the competitiveness of EAC-produced goods.

NTBs persist and grow because of the lack of an effective EAC trade dispute settlement system (the EAC Trade Remedies Committee) and the poor speed of resolution of NTBs by the EAC Reginal Monitoring Committee (EMC).