The East African Standards Committee (EASC) has harmonized 44 standards covering the areas of oil seeds, fats and oils, packaging, drinking water, textiles and textile products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, liquefied petroleum and natural gas equipment.
During the harmonization meeting held from April 26-27, 2018 in Arusha Tanzania, the committee members noted that 40 draft standards were in final stages of approval and had been circulated for public review and notified to World Trade Organization (WTO), due for approval at the next committee meeting.
The 21st EASC meeting was chaired by Uganda and attended by the delegates from Partner States of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Other attending included delegates from the EABC, Trade mark East Africa (TMEA), USAID/Trade Hub, ARSO, SADC, ISO, WHO/FAO Codex, and IEC regional office for Africa, with the committee also endorsing 107 international standards that had been referenced in the harmonized standards.
Harmonization of standards at the regional level continues to be a major activity, and a study undertaken by the East African Business Council (EABC) has shown that between 2010-2016, harmonization of standards within the EAC led to increase of intra-regional trade value by 18% from US$291.2m to US$343m for selected products that include soap and cleaning agents, alcoholic beverages, steel products, edible fats and oils, sugar confectionaries, fish and fishery products.
As of 2017, there were 1374 harmonized East African Standards and experts say that with more standards harmonized, the intra-regional trade is expected to grow much higher.
The committee also reviewed progress made in the implementation of the 2017 work plan, status on adoption and implementation of harmonized standards, engagement with regional and international standardization organizations and progress made in the finalization of the EAC Metrology and Standards, Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SACA) bills.
