The East African Community has received a report from experts it had appointed to provide a roadmap for the implementation of a Common Market.The report by Adam Smith International and MA Consulting Group indicate, the final steps that the five members of the Community need to take to fully integrate their economies into the common market. But the development will come at a cost; loss of jobs in the region as revenue authorities adopt new regulations to smoothen trade and traffic.The proposed regulations require that cargo clearance arrangements instituted in each of the EAC member states be scrapped and their functions be taken over by a semi-autonomous authority. In effect, proposing job cuts at cargo entry and exit points.The envisioned single revenue authority will only have offices at the ports of Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and at the international airports.EAC’s director general for trade and customs, Peter Kiguta, was recently quoted as saying that there will be no mass transfer of customs officials to common entry points. Instead, the member countries will be required to develop an IT infrastructure to interlink their systems for purposes of monitoring revenues.The overhaul of the customs infrastructure will determine how far regional governments are committed to the economic integration of the region. Income from customs provides the bulk of revenue for the governments and whether they are willing to allow a cut in their finances for the sake of a common market will be a real test to the EAC strategic survival.
