EA edges closer to having common laws on fake goods

Companies targeting the East African market are set to benefit from the introduction of new anti-counterfeit rules which the regional trading bloc is preparing to clamp down on fake goods.

Lawyers drafting the regional anti-counterfeit legislation say they are at an advanced stage and the laws could be introduced in the East African Assembly as early as July.

If approved the new anti-corruption legislation would help Kenya to secure its regional market from counterfeiters who have been munching the market share of local firms such as Eveready, Haco Industries and BAT on the lucrative.

A committee of trade experts from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi met in Arusha, Tanzania, the headquarters of the EAC yesterday to discuss the draft anti-counterfeits laws applicable in the EAC member states, lawyers who made the draft said on Tuesday.

The lack of anti-counterfeit laws in the EAC has enabled traders in contraband goods to get away easily.

A recent survey commissioned by the EAC says companies in East Africa lose up to 90 per cent of business to counterfeits annually.

Kenyan businesses alone lose Sh50 billion in sales annually, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, because of the penetration of illegal goods into the markets.

The Government also loses Sh19 billion in taxes every year due to the production and sale of contraband goods.

Paris-based international research and discussion group Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, estimates in its 2008 report that manufacturers in East Africa lost about $20 million annually due to trade in counterfeit in the region.

Kenyan firms affected the most by counterfeiters are manufacturers of shoe polish, ball-point pens, alcoholic beverages, juices, pharmaceutical products, computer software, computer software and music.

“The committee of trade experts reviewing the draft anti-counterfeit laws is an internal channel of the EAC that will enable the proposed laws to go before the regional Assembly,” said Mr William Maema, a Kenyan lawyer who participated in the drafting of the proposed anti-counterfeit law.

The draft was made by legal experts from the five EAC member states and if passed by the EAC Assembly it will be sent to the council of ministers for approval.

Fighting counterfeits in East Africa has proved to be difficult because of the region’s porous borders and different levels of legislation and policy on fake goods.

Although Kenya enacted anti-counterfeit laws in December, other EAC member countries; Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda are yet introduce similar laws.

Monitor progress