Kenya’s recently completed trade deals have run into stormy waters after Nairobi applied higher import duties on whiskies and wines from the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) respectively, two jurisdictions with which it signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA).
While Kenya, in line with the East Africa Community (EAC) Customs Union, is applying a higher tariff of 35 percent on imported wines and whiskies to encourage local production, the two EPAs put the import duty at 25 percent. The deal with the EU is awaiting ratification in Brussels while the agreement with UK is operational.
