KIGALI - The deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) in charge of infrastructure and planning, Alloys Mutabingwa, has urged the bloc’s partner states to work towards eliminating non-traffic barriers for trade to flourish in the region.

In an interview with The New Times, Mutabingwa suggested that partner states formulate a non-tariff barrier body that will monitor and eliminate practices that hurt commerce within the region.

"A regional body has to monitor all non tariff barriers that exist in our countries therefore partner states must decide to formulate  this body because you cannot tell the secretariat  to monitor” He said

He pointed out that political talks that partner states normally conduct to get rid of the barriers take long to produce positive results, adding this must be done immediately.

"Those political talks don’t work we should have mechanisms that monitor, evaluate and remove what is not required for our targets on common market in the region to be realized effectively”

Mutabingwa reiterated that illegal non tariff barriers that still exist have hindered economic integration as well as affecting regional cooperation. He went on to reveal that the bloc has embarked on a campaign to encourage member states to establish  one-stop border posts to facilitate efficiency in the movement of goods, people and services within the community.  

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