East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25 September 2020: The East African Community (EAC) joins the rest of the world in celebrating the World Tourism Day, celebrated on the 27th of September every year. Themed “Tourism and Rural Development”, the official 2020 celebration will be held on Monday, 28 September at 15:00 (CEST), in a two-hour virtual session.
Nowhere else in the world is this year’s theme more fitting than the EAC Partner States, as most of the tourism products in the region are mainly nature based and thus found in the rural areas. The EAC region largely depends on national parks and reserves, as well as wildlife conservancies that traverse the entire region.
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRPRERSON OF THE TRIPARTITE TASK FORCE
PRESS STATEMENT
TRIPARTITE SECTORIAL MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS ENDORSES LEGAL INSTRUMENTS FOR TRIPARTITE TRANSPORT AND TRANSIT FACILITATION
“Cross border road transport laws, regulations, standards and systems harmonized from Cape to Cairo”.
Following the consideration and adoption of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Vehicle Load Management Agreement (VLMA), the COMESA-EAC-SADC Multilateral Cross-Border Road Transport Agreement (MCBRTA) and five Road Transport Model Laws and Principles by the 2nd Meeting of the Tripartite Sectorial Ministerial Committee of Infrastructure (TSMCI) that took place in Lusaka, Zambia in October, 2019, the Tripartite Sectorial Ministerial Committee on Legal Affairs (TSMCLA) met on 18th September 2020. The TSMCLA met to legally scrub the following Draft Tripartite Road Transport Legal Instruments:
COMESA-EAC-SADC Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement;
COMESA-EAC-SADC Vehicle Load Management Model Law;
COMESA-EAC-SADC Cross Border Road Transport Model Law;
COMESA-EAC-SADC Road Traffic Model Law;
Draft COMESA-EAC-SADC Road Traffic and Transport Transgressions Model Law; and
Draft COMESA-EAC-SADC Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road Model Law
The instruments will be presented for consideration for final approval by the Tripartite Ministerial Council that will then recommend the Vehicle Load Management Agreement and the Multilateral Cross-Border Road Transport Agreement for signature, by the Heads of State and Government. The meeting of the Tripartite Council of Ministers is expected to be held before the end of this year (2020).
The COMESA-EAC-SADC Vehicle Load Management Agreement sets out the harmonized regulations and standards and the methodology for calculating overload fees with the purpose to retrieve the additional cost to the infrastructure caused by overloading, as well as the permissible load limits with the view to protect the road pavement as well as to ensure road safety. The Draft Agreement also provides the basis for cooperation between the Member/ Partner States of the Tripartite Free Trade Area regarding vehicle load management, law enforcement, information sharing, as well as mechanisms for dispute resolution.
The COMESA-EAC-SADC Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement, provides for a Tripartite legal framework for harmonisation of road traffic and transport related aspects, including vehicle registration documents, transport operator registration, vehicle fitness testing, driver training and testing, as well as driving licence categories based on appropriate international standards, including United Nations Standards.
Further, the Draft COMESA-EAC-SADC Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement provides for a framework for enabling a comprehensive cross border road transportation management system, which is based on quality regulation as opposed to economic regulation. The transport management system is supported by an electronic Tripartite Transport Registers and Information Platform System (TRIPS), which enables the exchange of data between the Member/Partner States, from their own National Transport Information Systems (NTIS) that consist of a number of modules, amongst others a vehicle system, a driver system, an operator system and a transgression system.
The draft instruments were developed through the Tripartite Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) of COMESA, EAC and SADC. The joint programme is funded by the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund.
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For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka Senior Public Relations Officer Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 768 552087 Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 16 September 2020: Border Posts are high-risk areas regarding the spread of COVID 19 and other infectious diseases from one country to another. These “Points of Entry” are at the center of movement of people, animals and goods from one country to another.
The capacity of border post staff to prevent the spread of the virus and to quickly and expertly respond to infections in people who cross the border determines the efficiency. “The region has started opening its borders and space to allow movement of travelers in the region. This involves a risk as the pandemic has not yet ended”, says Hon Christophe Bazivamo, the Deputy Secretary General Productive and Social Sectors at the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat. To minimize this risk, the EAC will convene a training of trainers at 12 “One Stop Border Posts” (OSBPs) in the region to enhance the capacity of staff for infection prevention and for communicating the COVID-related risks to travelers.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 10th September, 2020:The outgoing Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency, Dr Sahabi Isa Gada on Wednesday 9th September, 2020, paid a courtesy farewell visit on the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko, at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.H.E Gada will be returning to Nigeria after three years’ tour of duty in Tanzania and East African Community.
Addressing the Secretary General, Amb Gada said he was proud to see the positive developments taking place in the regional integration agenda. He lauded the progress registered by the Community since its revival, saying it was an inspiration for the other Regional Economic Communities on the African continent.
The RECDTS App is designed to stop Corona in its tracks along EAC key transport corridors
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th September, 2020: The East Africa Community (EAC) Secretariat and its Partner States today held a virtual roll out event to mark the technical completion and development of the Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System (RECDTS). RECDTS is designed as a mobile phone application and will enable the issuance of the EAC COVID-19 digital certificates that are mutually recognised by Partner States, thus eliminating need for multiple testing as well as contributing to alleviating ongoing congestion at East Africa border crossing points.
The roll out was witnessed by the Chair of the EAC Council of Minister, Hon Prof Nshuti Manasseh, Ministers of Health from Kenya and Uganda as well as the EU Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Simon Mordue.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th September, 2020: The East Africa Community Secretariat and its Partner States will hold a virtual event to officially mark the roll out of the Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System (RECDTS) from Malaba/Malaba the border between Uganda and Kenya and Mirama Hills / Kagitumba, the border between Uganda and Rwanda, today Tuesday 8th September, 2020 at 2PM.
The tracking system provides a surveillance system to monitor long distance trucker’s crew and enable contact tracing. It allows Partner States to electronically share truck drivers’ COVID-19 test results; therefore, minimizing need for multiple COVID-19 tests in a single trip.
East African Legislative Assembly; September 3rd, 2020: Arusha, Tanzania:The East African Legislative Assembly late yesterday at a virtual sitting, approved a Vote on Account of USD 19,697,574.88 Million to support the normal operations and to cater for expenses of the EAC in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2020/2021. Under the approved Vote on Account, the EAC Secretariat is to receive USD 9,095,178.88, East African Legislative Assembly – USD 5,295,062, East African Court of Justice, USD 574,063, and the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, USD 941,717. The East African Science and Technology Commission is to receive USD 512,037, East African Kiswahili Commission – USD 305,482, East African Health Research Commission, USD 362,333, while East African Competition Authority is allocated USD 352,576. On its part, USD 1,89,257 is earmarked for the Inter University Council of East Africa and USD 305,482 pegged for the activities of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 28th August, 2020: The East African Community has kicked-off national launches of the 50 Million African Women Speak Networking Platform (50MAWS), a digital platform aimed at empowering millions of women in Africa to start, grow and scale up their businesses.
Gracing the national launch for the United Republic of Tanzania at the Karimjee Hall, in Dar es Salaam, Hon. Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Seniors and Children, said the government of Tanzania has received the project, and was happy to embrace the initiative to further enable women to connect, network and transact business.
Kampala, 17th August 2020 – Twenty young lecturers from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania Regional Flagship TVET Institutes (RFTIs) supported by the World Bank East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP) have been awarded scholarships to upgrade their qualification in Science and Technology to support advancement of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in East Africa.
The scholarships were awarded by the Chinese government, as part of the tripartite partnership between the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the People’s Republic of China through the Ministry of Education, and the World Bank to promote excellence in TVET and facilitate regional integration in East Africa.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th August, 2020: The EAC Deputy Secretary General, in charge of Productive and Social Sector, Hon Christophe Bazivamo has disclosed that all is set for the launch of the EAC Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System (RECDTS) in collaboration with the EAC Partner States National Focal Points on Covid-19 and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).
Addressing a weekly online EAC Ad hoc Regional Coordination Committee meeting (EARCC) on Covid-19, the Deputy Secretary General confirmed that RECDTS will be launched at five border points of Rusumo (Tanzania/Rwanda) on 12th August, 2020; Mutukula (Uganda/Tanzania) on 14th August, 2020, and; Malaba border (Kenya/Uganda) on 21st August, 2020.
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRPRERSON OF THE TRIPARTITE TASK FORCE
