The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat has issued new regulations to enhance the operationalization of the EAC Standardization, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing Act (SQMT) of 2006. The regulations geared towards facilitating regional trade were approved by the Council of Ministers in November last year and are issued in line with Article 6 of the Protocol on Establishment of the EAC Common Market, with reference to free movement of goods. Article 6 of the Protocol stipulates among other laws that EAC SQMT Act, 2006, shall govern the free movement of goods and regulations made there under.
The regulations include: The EAC SQMT (Product Certification in Partner States) Regulations, 2013; The EAC SQMT (Designation of Testing Laboratories) Regulations, 2013; and The EAC SQMT (Enforcement of Technical Regulations in Partner States) Regulations, 2013. The EAC SQMT (Product Certification in Partner States) Regulations, 2013 provides for certification bodies in the Partner States on the basis of Product Standards.
Testing laboratories
“The regulations will facilitate the issuance of quality marks on products conforming to regional and international standards and provide consumer confidence of the products traded in the region,” according to an EAC statement. The regulations would also provide for emphasis on recognition of each Quality Marks issued by other Partner States.
Testing laboratories The EAC SQMT (Designation of Testing Laboratories) Regulations, 2013 provides for the ministers responsible for Trade in the Partner States to designate Testing Laboratories to be recognized in the region.
It will facilitate an organized recognition of testing laboratories to test goods for conformity assessment in the region. The EAC SQMT (Enforcement of Technical Regulations in Partner States) Regulations, 2013 provides for Partner States to declare or notify a technical regulation, which may create barriers to trade and obliges Partner States upon request to explain the justification for that technical regulation.
The bloc also registered significant growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from $2.6bn in 2010 to $3.8bn last year. “EAC was the fastest growing region within African continent. Growth registered rose from 3.7 per cent between 2010 and 2012 against the average Sub-Saharan Africa growth of 3.2 per cent,” said the deputy secretary general in charge of Projects and Programmes, Ms Jesca Eriyo.
Speaking at the 2nd EAC Secretary General’s forum late last year, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phyllis Kandie noted that EAC is now recognized as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. She told participants at the event organized under the theme, “The EAC we want” that this was due to the strong intra- EAC trade, adding that the bloc was now working on developing legal binding mechanisms.
Ms Kandie also underscored the importance of holding regular dialogue with private sector, civil society and other representatives of interest groups within EAC member States in order to get their views and expectations on the various stages of regional integration.
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