One Stop Border Post set for Launch at Holili-Taveta on 27th Feb 2016
The East African Community (EAC) is officially launching the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Holili and Taveta border between Kenya and Tanzania tomorrow 27th February 2016, in order to enhance trade facilitation and quicken clearance of people in a conducive and secure environment.
The launch will be conducted by Phyllis J. Kandie, EGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and East African Affairs, the Republic of Kenya and Hon. Amb. Dr Augustine Mahiga (MP), Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African Regional and International Cooperation; the United Republic of Tanzania, in the presence of other Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries from the other Partner States. The occasion will also be graced by Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, the EAC Secretary General and the representatives of the financiers Trademark East Africa (TMEA) and the Business Community, led by the East African Business Council.
The OSBP is a concept that reduces the number of stops incurred in a cross border trade transaction by combining the activities of both countries; border organizations at a single location with simplified exit and entry procedures and joint processing, where possible. Motor vehicles and pedestrians only stop in the country of entry and perform exit and entry border formalities. One-stop is achieved by placing the border officials of two adjoining countries at each other’s adjoining border post so that each border post controls only the traffic entering the country. The exit formalities of the exit country and the entry formalities of the country of entry are carried out at the border post in the country of entry.
At Holili and Taveta OSBP, Kenyan Government officials performing exit functions have been deployed at Holili and are working with the Tanzanian Government officials performing entry functions. For Tanzanian Government officials performing exit functions, they have been deployed at Taveta and are working within the same building with the Kenyans that are performing entry functions. Traffic in either direction is thus bypassing the exit border post and going directly to the border post of entry in the other country. The main feature of the OSBP concept is that traffic crossing the border stops once instead of stopping at the border post of exit for exit formalities and at the border-post of entry for entry formalities. Hence One-Stop Border Post.
In the East African Community all OSBPs will operate using a regional framework and in this regard, the EAC OSBP Act 2013 has been assented to by all Partner States and is being gazetted. The OSBP Regulations have been drafted to operationalize the OSBPs at regional level and await the Council of Ministers’ approval. The OSBP Procedure Manual is being developed to guide and ensure uniform operations of the OSBP.
The Holili and Taveta OSBP has been constructed with the financial support of the Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA). The OSBP is operating in conformity with the regional OSBP requirement as most of the bilateral arrangements are based on the regional legal and administrative instruments.
From commencement of the OSBP at Holili and Taveta, a number benefits to the people and trade have been noticed. Some of the benefits are; quick clearance of pedestrians and passengers as they are now not stopping in the country of exit; saving of time as travelers are only stopping once for border formality; increased turnaround of commercial traffic as compliant traders are now spending little time at the border; reduced time spent at the border for inspection as it is only conducted once; reduced cost of doing business as interventions are reduced from two to one and cooperation among border agencies as they are now sharing information in a more organized and transparent manner entrenching regional integration.