WT/REG346/2  
22 May 2014  
(14-3075)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  Original: English/Spanish  
 
  PROTOCOL ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY COMMON MARKET 
(SERVICES) 
QUESTIONS AND REPLIES 
The following communication, dated 15 May 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. 
 
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 This document reproduces the questions addressed to the Parties and the responses 
submitted.  
Question from the delegation of Canada 
 
1.1  Paragraph 4.4: We note that the Parties to the Protocol on the Establishment of the 
East African Community Common Market, Serv ices, agree not to discriminate against 
suppliers, products or services  originating from other Partie s. In the field of public 
procurement, will non-discrimination apply to all products and supplies? 
 Yes, the EAC CMP provides that there will be no discrimination in the area of public 
procurement to parties to the EAC Common Market  w h o ,  i n  t h e  l a n g u a g e  o f  E A C ,  a r e  r e f e r r e d  
to as partner states and not parties. The Protocol is clear that this covers only the parties to the EAC Common Market and not the rest of the world. 
 
Question from the delegation of Chile 
 
1.2  Regarding the liberalization commitm ents, under which the Parties agreed 
to progressively remove existing restrictions and not introduce any new restrictions on the provision of services in the Partner States by nationals of  other Partner States 
except as otherwise provided in the Prot ocol (Article 16.5), has any time-frame 
or mechanism for evaluating the liberalization of these commitments been established? 
 Yes. 
 
 The time-frame for liberalizing trade in services is as indicated in Annex V, the Schedule 
of Commitments on the Progressive Liberalization of Services.  
 There is already a well-established implementation and monitoring framework/mechanism 
that monitors the implementation of all aspects of the EAC Common Market Protocol. At the national level, there is a National Implementation Committee that meets twice a year and at the regional level, there is the Regional Monitoring Group that meets twice a year. 
 
Questions from the delegation of Colombia 
 
1.3  In relation to specific services sect ors, we note that there is considerable 
asymmetry among different Members of the Eastern African Community as regards the 
scheduling of commitments under the WTO Ge neral Agreement on Trade in Services 
(GATS). For example, only Kenya and Uganda have scheduled commitments WT/REG346/2 
- 2 - 
  in Communication Services, and only Keny a has scheduled commitments in Financial 
Services. Do you think that by 2015 (date of full implementation of the Protocol) 
all of the EAC countries will have scheduled commitments in the different services under 
the GATS? 
 The Protocol does not provide that 2015 is the date of full implementation of the Protocol. 
Liberalization of trade in services is progressive and therefore it does not necessarily mean that all countries will have scheduled commitments  in the different services sectors by 2015. 
 
 The Common Market Protocol contains only seven sectors which were negotiated at the beginning, namely business services, distribution services, education services, financial services, communication services, tourism and travel-related services and transport services. 
 
 Liberalization in the above seven sectors by 2015 is as reflected in the Schedule on the Liberalization of Services. 
 
 The outstanding subsectors in the seven sectors will be negotiated in future together with 
the five remaining sectors. 
 
 The remaining five sectors to be negotiated later are construction and engineering services; environmental services; health-related and social services; recreational, cultural and sporting services; and other services not included elsewhere. 
 
1.4  Under Article II of the GATS, each Member is held to accord immediately 
and unconditionally to services and service suppliers of any other Member "treatment 
no less favourable than that it accords to lik e services and service suppliers of any other 
country". How is this principle incorporated and implemented in the agreement on services signed by the EAC member count ries? What specific provisions have been 
included in that agreement to guarant ee most-favoured-nation treatment under 
the GATS? 
 Under GATS Article V on Economic Integration, the MFN principle applies only to the 
Members to the Agreement and not at the WTO leve l as this is one of the exemptions of GATS. 
 
 Therefore the provisions of GATS Article II do not apply to EAC Partner States as long as they meet other requirements of GATS Article V. 
 
 Article 18 of the CMP provides that "each Partner State shall, upon the coming into force of this Protocol, accord unconditionally, to serv ices and service suppliers of the other Partner 
States, treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers 
of other Partner States or any third party or a customs territory".  1.5  Under the GATS principle of transparency , what are the national enquiry points for 
services and what are the contact points fo r each country and for the EAC as a whole, 
where other Member countries can request information on the measures and procedures in place for services? 
 The EAC CMP does not provide for the establishment of enquiry points, but there are efforts 
towards amending the CMP to provide for national enquiry points in the transparency article.  
 
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