State seeks continent-wide accreditation for Kebs to boost trade flow
Trade Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya has said that a continent-wide accreditation of Kebs would enhance the acceptability of Kenyan goods on the continent.
The government is seeking Africa-wide accreditation for the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to boost efficiency in quality approvals as the continent moves towards a seamless market regime.
Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said on Wednesday that a continent-wide accreditation of Kebs would enhance the acceptability of Kenyan goods on the continent under the 48-member African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Kenya was one of the first signatories to the AfCFTA, the implementation of which began in January 2021. However, commercially significant trade under the AfCFTA's preferential tariff regime began in October 2022.
“We are now moving into the implementation stage of the AfCFTA. Some of the key areas that we were looking at in our discussion is how we are going to handle the issue of standards and accreditation of Kenyan products to Africa,” Mr Mvurya said.
This comes at a time when the lack of common standards has been identified as one of the barriers limiting intra-African trade. The AfCFTA secretariat is seeking to harmonise standards in a process that will start with items that have been identified as priorities.
“One of the things that we have agreed is that because Kebs is already at different ports here in the country, we are going to make an application for accreditation which will be done through the AfCFTA Secretariat,” the CS said.
“If that harmonisation of standards and accreditation is agreed then Kebs certification will be accepted across Africa,” he added.
An earlier report by the African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Organisation for Standardisation and the African Union Commission identified Portland cement, fish, fruit, edible oils, automobiles and mineral water as priority products for standards harmonisation.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said inadequate access to finance is one of the major challenges to the realisation of intra-African trade.
This was as he announced that the secretariat last year signed a $7 billion (Sh901 billion) agreement with the United Bank of Africa (UBA) to finance micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the continent.
“We are in discussions to launch that fund here in Nairobi under the leadership of H.E President William Ruto. This is a big step forward in AfCFTA implementation because we have a commercial bank that is willing to provide financing for trade,” said Mr Mene.
The AfCFTA requires members to phase out 90 percent of tariff lines over the next five to 10 years.
A further 7 percent deemed sensitive will be given more time, while 3 percent can be placed on an exclusion list.
By 2029, most products traded across African borders will be free of tariffs or be subject to levies as low as one per cent.
However, products such as meat, cut flowers, tea, coffee and dairy products will continue to be taxed at 3.5 percent until 2029.
During the trial run of the AfCFTA, Kenya sent a consignment of tea to Ghana. However, the shipment took about 90 days at sea to reach Ghana, highlighting the complexity of intra-African trade.
