Kenya, Zambia in fresh bid to resolve long standing trade barrier

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1 1 Issue #: 509_ 28th February 2017 Kenya, Zambia in fresh bid to resolve long standing trade barrier 6 billion dollars and 70% of those went to 12 markets in the world out of which 90 to 95 % were in the COMESA region. Assistant Secretary General Dr Kipyego Cheluget congratulated Kenya and Zambia for giving a new thrust to the resolution of the outstanding NTB matter as it had taken unnecessary long to resolve. He urged the two States to strive and resolve the matter within this year so that trade can start between the two countries in the named commodities. He said the Secretariat was ready to assist in achieving this goal. Kenya s Principal Secretary Dr Chris Kiptoo (C) with Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget (R) and Kenya High Commissioner to Zambia and Permanent Representative to COMESA HE Sophie Kombe. Kenya government delegation was in A Zambia for three days to try and unlock a long standing non-tariff barrier between the two countries affecting milk and palm oil. The team led by Dr Chris Kiptoo the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Cooperatives of the Kenya, had bilateral meetings with Zambian counterparts and later paid a courtesy call on the COMESA secretariat. In his brief to the COMESA team, Dr Kiptoo attributed the about 13 year stalemate to the absence of a common COMESA standard that would guide the import and export of the various commodities across borders in the region. follows the international benchmark of one million TBC. We need COMESA standard so that we can start trading, Dr Kiptoo said. The PS said there is need for COMESA member states to trade amongst each other more than with other countries and continents, as this will help boost the productive capacity of the various industries. He lamented that the levels of trade are still very low compared to the potential that actually exists. He said: Exports in goods for 2015 were about Amb. Cheluget noted that Kenya and Zambia were named in Africa Regional Integration Index as most integrated states in the COMESA region and therefore key in advancing regional trade and investment. COMESA Director of Trade Dr Francis Mangeni said the milk and palm oil hurdle was the last two of the remaining four unresolved NTBs in the region. He said 96% of all reported NTBs had been resolved and expressed optimism that these would be put to rest this year. Kenya High Commissioner to Zambia and Permanent Representative to COMESA HE Sophie Kombe accompanied the team. A COMESA Standard would help producers to come up with uniform products that can sell across the borders in the region and beyond Dr Kiptoo said adding that the gap had left member states to use their own standards which were in inconsistent with their trading partners states. Kenya s milk and palm oil products cannot access the Zambia market owing to conflict on standards. With regard to milk, Zambia s standard allows total bacteria count (TBC) of 200,000 while Kenya s This bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Corporate Communications Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat. For Feedback: pr@comesa.int Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center, Ben Bella Road P.O. Box 30051, , e-comesa@comesa.int

2 2 Competition Commission begins probe on football deal The investigation which is based on Article 22 of the CCC is to assess whether the procedure followed by CAF in commercializing and awarding the media and marketing rights of football tournaments is in line with best practices. The Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation of the agreements concluded between CAF and Lagardère Sports S.A.S. to determine their effect in the Common Market comprising the 19 COMESA Member States. COMESA Competition Commission has started investigating agreements between the Confederation of African Football and Lagardère Sports S.A.S, for the commercialization of marketing and media rights of football tournaments. The investigation which begun on February 13, 2017 is probing potential violation of the COMESA Competition Regulations by the Confédération Africaine de Football ( CAF ) in relation to the commercialization of media and marketing rights for African football tournaments. Complaints received by the Commission, allege that the current agreements between CAF and Lagardere Sports S.A.S. a sport marketing agency based in France contained provisions which violate the COMESA Competition Regulations. The Commission intends to make an assessment of the agreements between CAF and Lagardère Sports S.A.S., to identify those provisions which are anti-competitive and have the effect of restricting, preventing or distorting competition in the commercialization and award of media and marketing rights for African football tournaments, said the CCC in a statement to the Press. The main allegations against CAF include: awarding the media and marketing rights as a bundled package; excessive duration of the exclusive contracts and not subjecting the award of the same to a transparent and objective process. The complainants alleged that the sale of the media and marketing rights as a bundle prevented the participation of more companies thus making the bids too expensive and therefor exclusive to big companies. The complainants alleged that on 12th June 2015, CAF entered into an agreement with Lagardère Sports S.A.S., for the exclusive commercialization of marketing and media rights of main regional football competitions in Africa, including the Africa Cup of Nations, African Nations Championship and African Champions League, for the period 2017 to Further, it is alleged that CAF did not subject the awarding of the rights to a transparent and objective tender process which could have allowed the participation of more companies. Such a process, they said results in higher prices for the rights which ultimately trickle down to the high cost of broadcasting the CAF tournaments depriving many soccer fans opportunity to watch their favorite tournaments. Director for African at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ambassador Raffaele De Lutio (C) visited the Secretariat on 23rd February The objective of the visit was to explore possible areas of cooperation between Italy and COMESA in sectors like energy, agriculture and trade. He was accompanied by the Italian Ambassador to Zambia who is also the special representative to COMESA Ambassador Filipo Scammaca. COMESA Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget (R) and senior officials received the guests and briefed them on possible opportunities for partnership. Competition authorities in other jurisdictions including Europe and Asia have in the past conducted similar agreements which have led to adoption of best practices by football associations worldwide, including the Union of European Football Association (UEFA), the English Premier League, the French Football Federation and Bundesliga. It should be noted that the opening of an investigation does not presuppose that the conduct being investigated is anti-competitive or that CAF has violated the competition laws, the Commission says.

3 Australia, COMESA in joint initiative to address plant health 3 Delegates attending the 4th network workshop COMESA is spearheading studies to examine the actual costs of plant health measures that are in place in the region and how they can be reduced, without affecting the level of protection that they are designed to provide. Assistant Secretary General of COMESA Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget says some of the reasons why intra-regional trade is lower than it could be is because the costs of these non-tariff measures, including Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) or biosecurity, are higher than they need be. Ambassador Cheluget was addressing the 4th Network workshop of the Australia-Africa Plant Biosecurity Partnership (AAPBP) in Lusaka, Zambia. The initiative brings together 10 states in the eastern and southern African region and Australian biosecurity experts to address critical plant pests and diseases by strengthening the skills and capacity of professionals in African plant biosecurity agencies and institutions. Amb Cheluget observed the presence of pests and plant diseases in the region was the cause of some of the persistent non-tariff barriers that impede smooth trade in the region and beyond. In fact, some of the SPS measures we apply to intra-regional trade might not even reduce the risk of plant diseases at all, so my hope is that the studies will not only reduce the costs of trading, but improve the management of risk, he said. Noting that some of the national experts in the meeting were involved in the study, Ambassador Cheluget urged them to carry on and implement the recommendations that will emerge from the exercise. Comparative Advantage The AAPBP initiative is the result of representations from African stakeholders to the Australian Government who noted that the world-class strength, experience and comparative advantage of Australian biosecurity agencies could be leveraged to enhance African plant biosecurity capacity. The initiative also responds in part to areas identified in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2014 between the Government of Western Australia and COMESA to cooperate in biosecurity. National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania are taking part in the one network meeting. It is led by Australian experts and mentors, AAPBP Senior Fellows, and resource persons from Africa covering areas of surveillance, emergency response, seed-borne diseases and monitoring and evaluation. Addressing the participants, the Permanent Secretary in Ministry for Agriculture of Zambia Mr. Julius Shawa stressed the need to protect agricultural production and trade from the threats it faces from pests and diseases as it was a major source of import revenues. Plant biosafety activities play a pivotal role in ensuring safe agriculture that is compliant to international standards, he noted adding that the threats of pests and diseases in Agriculture has grown due to climate change and weather variability. He thanked COMESA for spearheading the formation of SPS as they have helped enhance the biosecurity in agriculture trade. The General Manager, Global Programs, at the Australia Centre for International Agriculture Research ACIAR, Mellissa Wood said a health and competitive agricultural sector requires improved farm to consumer marketing, trading and biosecurity systems. An efficient and effective plant biosecurity system is a critical enabler of enormous opportunities for boosting regional and international trade in agricultural products, she said.

4 4 Leather and Textile companies rewarded The equipment included sewing machines, laptop, double stitch machine for shoes, and crywool amongst others to winning companies in the leather sector namely; Sleek Feet Comp, Chihungu Designs and Alive & Kicking. In the textile sector, the winners were Dodo Designer, Chizo Designs and the Cotton Association of Zambia. Minister Mwanakatwe said the award ceremony was a fulfillment of the promise made during the Leather and Textile Expo, 2016 hosted by her ministry under the theme Enhancing competitiveness of the Leather and Textile sectors through value addition. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Hon. Margaret Mwanakatwe (L), hands over equipment to one of the Award Winners. Zambia companies that won in the first Leather and Textile Expo held in December 2016 with support from COMESA and the European Union Commission have received equipment and raw materials worth over 6000 dollars. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Hon. Margaret Mwanakatwe, and COMESA Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget presented the equipment in Lusaka, Friday, February 24, Send-off for long serving staff The goal of the Expo was to provide a platform for the Leather and Textile value chain players to showcase their products and demonstrate Zambia s potential as a market leader in the sectors. The Ministry through the Regional Integration Capacity Building (RICB) Project, which is funded by the European Union and COMESA, covered all participation expenses for the SMEs as Exhibitors. Acting Secretary General Amb. Dr Kipyego Cheluget led the entire staff of the Secretariat in hosting a farewell luncheon in their honour, which also presented an opportunity for the staff to hugoff their former colleagues. Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget who presented farewell Gifts during the event thanked all the members of staff who are separating with the institution for their contribution in COMESA s integration programme. The event also served to introduce new staff that have joined the Secretariat recently. The COMESA Secretariat staff on 22nd February 2017, bid farewell to nine members of staff through a befitting sendoff after their terms of service came to an end on Tuesday, 21 February The group was part of long serving staff with tenures ranging from 13 to 32 years. Among them were three directors formerly in charge of Administration and Human Resource, Budget, and Infrastructure and logistics.

5 Experts prepare to roll-out the simplified trade at border points 5 Small scale traders at the Goma/ Rubavu border Experts of the Joint Committee on Facilitation of Cross-Border Trade between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have developed a work plan and terms of reference for collaboration in facilitating small scale cross-border trade between the two countries. This follows the signing in October 2016, of a bilateral agreement between the two countries on a common list of products that qualify for small cross border trade under the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime (STR). Thereafter the Joint Committee was established to facilitate the implementation of the COMESA STR which was a key pillar of the agreement. The STR is an trade facilitation instrument that aims at formalizing small-scale trade between countries by allowing small-scale traders to qualify for duty-free entry for certain goods. It provides for a simpler and reduced set of documentary requirements to cross the border. Arising from the meeting of experts which took place on January 2017, a raft of recommendations was made to the COMESA Secretariat. They included the identification of modalities of dealing with the origin of manufactured /industrial products, dry food products which are traded by small-scale crossborder traders but which may be coming from outside the region. Traders Charter Others proposals were on the establishment of more Trade Information Offices at common border posts, joint sensitization on the traders charter as part of the implementation of the World Bank funded Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Programme (GLTFP). The GLTFP is being implemented by the DR Congo and countries on its eastern border. The experts also proposed for the establishment of a collaborative framework to facilitate the exchange of information on cross-border trade between border services comprising mainly of Customs, Security and Immigration. Over 30 stakeholder delegates from Rwanda and DR Congo participated in the meeting. They were drawn from immigration, health, customs, police, National Bureaus of Standards, local Chambers of Commerce, Small Scale Cross Border Associations, and National Coordinators of the GLTFP, Trade Information Desk Officers (TIDOs) from the Rubavu (Rwanda) and Goma (DRC) borders and senior Government officials from the Ministries responsible for Trade in the two countries. Other proposal made for the Ministerial Committee of the two States were; to sign the adopted harmonized list of products under COMESA STR; to consider adopting the Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure governing the Joint Committee and validation of the Action Plan once the deadlines and responsibilities have been determined.