Background

The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five east African states with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community was signed on 30th November 1999 and entered into force on 7 July 2000. The EAC aims at widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in, among others, political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit. To this extent the EAC countries established a Customs Union in 2005 and are working towards the establishment of a Common Market by 2010, subsequently a Monetary Union by 2012 and ultimately a Political Federation of the East African States. The five member states of the EAC are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.  For more information go to the EAC website.

EAC Treaties

• Amended Treaty for the Establishment of EAC (PDF – 690kb)
• Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Customs Union (PDF – 563kb)
  • East African Community Customs Union (Rules of Origin) Rules (PDF – 228kb)
  • East African Community Customs Management Act, 2004 (PDF – 1096kb)
  • EAC Common External Tariff – 2007 (PDF – 1930kb)
• Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market (PDF – 508KB)
  • Annex I: Free Movement of Persons Regulations (PDF – 125kb)
  • Annex II: Free Movement of Workers Regulations (PDF – 453kb)
  • Annex III: Right of Establishment Regulations (PDF – 205kb)
  • Annex IV: Right of Residence Regulations (PDF – 185kb)
  • Annex V: Schedule of Commitments on the Progressive Liberalisation of Services (PDF – 920kb)
  • Annex VI: Schedule on the Removal of Restrictions on the Free Movement of Capital (PDF – 240kb)

EAC – European Community Economic Partnership Agreement

The member states of the East African Community and the and the European Commission initialled the text of the Agreement Establishing a Framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement jointly on 27 November 2007.  The EAC member states met with the EC in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 7-9 June 2010. Both parties were unable to agree on the contentious issues (see Joint Senior Officials Conclusions). This was followed with a Joint Statement issued by the EAC Ministers responsible for Trade and the Commissioner for Trade in the European Commission.

• Agreement Establishing a Framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the EAC states and the  EC  and its Member States (PDF – 379kb)
  • Protocol on the Rules of Origin (PDF – 886kb)
• Joint Conclusions (PDF – 93kb)
• Joint EAC-EC Communiqué on the Framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement and Negotiations for the Comprehensive EPA (PDF – 27kb)

EAC tariff schedule

EAC tariff schedule

Disclaimer

While tralac endeavours to list current legal instruments, we cannot accept responsibility or liability for any inaccuracies or omissions. The negotiation, ratification, implementation and/or modification of these instruments is an ongoing process and not always well-reported or updated by the relevant authorities. See further tralac‘s terms and conditions.