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Kenya appeals suspension of EU deal, warns EAC strain
Ministry of Investments, Trade & Industry Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui makes his remarks during a past forum held at the Nairobi Serena Hotel on October 15, 2025.
Kenya will appeal against a court ruling this week that suspended its trade deal with European Union, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal and diplomatic battle to preserve long-term tax-free access to the 27-nation bloc.
The government on Wednesday said it had initiated “immediate appropriate steps” to overturn the injunction by the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) on implementation of the Kenya–EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said the ministry, in consultation with the Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor, had begun filing an appeal aimed at setting aside the injunctive orders and reinstating continuity of the pact.
He, however, maintained that exporters will continue accessing the EU market under existing arrangements. Kenya in 2024 exported goods worth $1.56 billion (about Sh203 billion), while importing goods valued at $2.09 billion (about Sh272 billion) from the EU.
“The Government of Kenya wishes to confirm to its citizens and exporters that they will continue to access the EU market,” he said.
“We wish to assure all Kenyans, our trading partners as well as trading entities that Kenya will continue to trade with EU and steps are being taken to ensure continuity, predictability and protection of our existing commercial arrangements.”
The Arusha-headquartered EACJ on November 24 halted the rollout of the EPA pending a determination of a petition filed by the Center for Law, Economics and Policy (CELP East Africa), a civil society group.
The Ugandan-based think-tank accuses Nairobi of breaching EAC procedures by moving ahead with the agreement without notifying other members of the EAC bloc, including Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
At the centre of the dispute is Article 37 of the East African Community (EAC) Protocol which governs consultation on trade agreements reached between a partner State and an external party. Nairobi contends the article is intended to facilitate transparency and not to prohibit sovereign trade action.
Mr Kinyanjui warned the ruling risks straining regional integration by subjecting sovereign trade decisions to what it termed “over-judicialisation” within the seven-nation EAC bloc.
“The over-judicialisation of Article 37 only encourages forum shopping, reduces policy space and makes the EAC appear anti-development in the eyes of investors and external partners,” he said.
The ruling has triggered uncertainty over Kenya’s trade with the EU, its largest export destination for fresh produce, prompting Nairobi to reassure exporters of continuity in trade dealings with the European bloc.
Kenya’s rebuke of EACJ decision pending full hearing of the petition signals a deepening tension within the bloc, where member states have long used the principle of variable geometry to pursue differentiated integration paths, while remaining committed to EAC’s collective progress.
Nairobi insists the principle, enshrined in the EAC Treaty, allows it to move ahead with the deal with the EU, leaving room for other members to join later.
The EPA pact, enforced from July 2024, ensures Kenya’s largely farm produce exports continue to access the EU markets duty- and quota-free. The document is largely a modification of the text in the stalled EU-East African Community pact which was first agreed in October 2014 subject to approval by respective parliaments.
The major change is the inclusion of clauses around climate change. The implementation of the EU-EAC treaty, which Kenya endorsed in 2016, had stalled after the other EAC countries rejected it. Rwanda signed but did not ratify, while Tanzania and Uganda refused to approve the pact for various economic and political interests, including the fear of European goods flooding the market.
Nairobi committed to gradually lower duty on imports from Europe within 25 years after which trade will be liberalised. This means no duty will apply for goods from Europe while investments from EU will also be incentivised.
The EPA deal, however, has a protectionist clause which bars EU from applying blanket subsidies to agricultural exports to Kenya in absence of deepened policy dialogue with Nairobi.
This clause is aimed at safeguarding agriculture and food security in Kenya against unfair competition from the EU. Kenya, the current chair of EAC, intends to mount diplomatic pressure ahead of the upcoming EAC Summit, which Nairobi says will offer an opportunity for heads of state to address the legal and procedural tensions raised by the ruling.
“Kenya will be hosting the EAC Summit soon where all critical issues touching on the State Parties to the EAC can be addressed at the highest level,” Mr Kinyanjui said.
