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PRESS/TPRB/272 
25 October 2006 
 
(06-5105) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC) 
Economic progress, but continuati on of reform is still needed  
The East African Community (EAC) members (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) have continued their 
economic reform programmes over the last few years aimed at addressing key challenges, notably 
poverty reduction, sustainable economic growth and development, and full integration into the 
world economy, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of the East African Community.  
 
The report notes that further liberalization of  trade and investment, driven both by their 
commitments in the WTO, and by their participat ion in regional trade agreements, have been 
major features in this process.  But the report  also adds that EAC countries' membership in 
overlapping trade arrangements makes their trade regime complex, difficult to manage, and is likely to limit the proper functioning of the EAC as a customs union.   
 
According to the report, more attention needs to be paid to non-tariff measures in the full establishment of the EAC customs union (its free-trade-area and common trade-measure 
components). In addition, continued structural re forms and additional trade liberalization by EAC 
members would contribute to better resource allocation.    
The report also calls for an improvement of EAC members' multilateral commitments, both on 
goods and services. Such efforts will improve thei r ability to attract investment and improve their 
business climate. 
 
The report, along with policy statements by Kenya,  Tanzania and Uganda, will be the basis for the 
first joint Trade Policy Review (TPR) of the EAC by  the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 25 
and 27 October 2006. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp272.htm  
 • Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> The East African Community  > Trade Arrangements Involving EAC Members  PRESS/TPRB/272 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
> Common Trade Policy Measures  
> Annex 1: Kenya 
> Annex 2: Tanzania > Annex 3: Uganda  
> Appendix tables  
• Reports by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
 
Next reviews: 
Colombia : 22 and 24 November 2006 
Hong Kong, China : 13 and 15 December 2006 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END