WT/REG346/M/1  
 
28 July 2014  
(14-4338)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Seventy-third Session    
 
 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AGREEMENT  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  COMMON MARKET  
(SERVICES) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 23 JUNE 2014 
Chairman: Ambassador Francisco Pirez Gordillo (Uruguay) 
1.1.  The 73rd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/4299/Rev.1 dated 13 June 2014. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item B.VIII of the session, the CRTA considered the Economic Integration 
Agreement - East African Community Common Market, (hereinafter "the Agreement"). 
1.3.  The Chairman said that the Agreement had entered into force on 1 July 2010. It had been 
notified to the WTO by the Parties on 1 August 2012 under GATS Article V:7(a) as an Agreement 
providing for the liberalization of trade in services within the meaning of Article V of the GATS 
(document S/C/N/655). The text of the Agreement was available, together with its Annexes, on the Parties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on the services aspects 
(document WT/REG346/1 dated 3 March 2014) had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own 
responsibility in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Ag reements (document WT/L/671). In addition, 
written questions and replies on this Agreemen t had been distributed in document WT/REG346/2 
dated 22 May 2014. He proposed to organize the consideration of the Agreement by first asking 
the Parties and then other Members to give any general comments and then turn to the specifics of the Agreement, using the Factual Presentati on, document WT/REG346/1 to guide the debate. 
They would then go through the questions and replies document. 
1.4.  The representative of Kenya thanked the WTO Secretariat on behalf of the East African 
Community (EAC) Partner States--Burundi, Rwanda , Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya for preparing 
the Factual Presentation WT/REG346/1 on the Protocol Establishing the EAC Common Market, 
Services, which had been circulated in all th ree official working languages of the WTO.  
1.5.  The negotiations of the East African Common Market Protocol had started in April 2008 and 
had ended in September 2009. The Protocol had been signed by the Heads of State on 20 
November 2009 and had come into effect from 1 July 2010. The objective of the Protocol was to 
widen and deepen cooperation among the partne r States, namely, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, 
Tanzania and Uganda. The Protocol provided fo r two rights: the right of establishment and 
residence; and four freedoms: movement of worker s, goods, services and capital. Under Article 16 
the Partner States had agreed to guarantee free movement of services in respect of each other. The Protocol provided for the movement of services  in accordance with the four modes of supply. 
This meant it had borrowed heavily from the GATS. 
1.6.  The EAC thanked Chile, Colombia and Cana da for their questions to which comprehensive 
joint responses had been provided by the EAC Partner States. These questions referred to: timeframe or mechanism for evaluating the liberalization of services within the EAC; asymmetry 
regarding scheduling of commitments; MFN co mmitments; national enquiry points and 
transparency; and non-discrimination and public procurement.  
 WT/REG346/M/1 
 
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  1.7.  The United States drew the Committee's a ttention to Table 4.1 noting that there was no 
listing of the Parties' interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union 
and asked the Parties to clarify if they were currently receiving tariff or other preferences from the EU and to indicate a time-frame for notificati on of these agreements under the Transparency 
Mechanism (TM) for RTAs. 
1.8.  The European Union indicated that the EPAs between the EU and its African partners had 
been notified when they were implemented in li ne with rules under the TM, meaning, when they 
had been signed and ratified. The EU would continue with this practice in the future. 
1.9.  The Chairman said that the consideration of  the Services Aspects of the Economic Integration 
Agreement of the East African Community Common Market had allowed the Committee to clarify a 
number of questions and the oral discussion of this RTA could be concluded in accordance with 
paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wished to ask follow up 
questions they were invited to forward submission s in writing to the Secretariat by 30 June 2014 
and Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 14 July 2014. In accordance 
with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minutes of 
this meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and would be made available on the WTO website. 
1.10.  The Committee took note of the comments made.  
 
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