USAID Partnership with the East African Community

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The U.S. Government has a long history of partnership with the East African Community (EAC). This brief describes some more recent activities and planned interventions by the USAID/EA support of the East African Community’s goal of regional integration.

Activities are listed under the priority areas identified in the East African Community’s Development Strategy 2011-2016.

Customs Union:

• With USAID support, the EAC reviewed and updated the Customs Management Act (CMA) to ensure harmonization of customs regulations in compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Customs Organization (WCO) standards. With USAID support, the EAC Customs Procedures Manual was drafted to harmonize customs procedures across the five EAC Partner States. Going forward USAID will support EAC Partner States to implement Harmonized Customs Procedures.
   
• EAC Harmonized Customs Valuation Methods were developed, representing a major step toward ensuring compatibility with the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement and WCO recommended best practices. In the near future, USAID will support EAC Partner States to implement EAC Harmonized Customs Valuation.
   
• With USAID support, the EAC developed a Post Clearance Audit (PCA), which is a WCO recommended practice for improved customs clearance services. Going forward, USAID will support EAC Partner States to implement the PCA.
   
• USAID facilitated EAC to harmonize standards for 22 staple foods in March 2013 including maize, wheat, rice, beans, and millet. Common standards will increase access to markets for farmers and traders by enabling them to accurately appraise their products and look regionally for the most competitive price.
   
• USAID is supporting the EAC Secretariat and Partner States in Customs Interconnectivity through the development and implementation of the Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange system (RADDEx) 2.0, which enables centralized sharing of customs clearance information. USAID is currently supporting the EAC and Revenue Authorities to roll out RADDEx to select private sector firms, and anticipates the system will be available to all private sector firms by May 2013.
   
• USAID assisted the EAC to review its exemptions regime under the EAC Customs Management Act. USAID supported the EAC and experts from Partner States to review and identify these non-customs laws, which were then reviewed by the Council of Ministers. Going forward, USAID will support the development of harmonized customs IT system regulations.
   
• USAID supported a regional pilot Time-Release Study on the Northern Transit Corridor from Mombasa Port to Kampala via Malaba published in November 2012. In the future, USAID will support the dissemination of study results to stakeholders in the region in 2013.
   
• USAID has supported a number of activities towards development of an EAC Single-Window System (SWS). The EAC plans to establish a Single Customs Territory (SCT) by combining the five EAC Customs Territories.

Common Market:

• USAID supports the EAC in Integrated Border Management (IBM) by supporting the EAC’s roll-out of IBM training and sensitization in EAC countries. USAID initiated Joint Border Committees (JBCs) to improve coordination between government agencies and the private sector at 16 of the region’s key border posts. The EAC Simplified Certificate of Origin (SCO) is an instrument to ease cross-border trade of goods valued up to US $500. Following on analysis supported by USAID, the EAC recently raised the limit provisionally to US$2,000. USAID will continue to support the gazetting of the US$2,000 limit and will support outreach to roll-out the SCO to traders and customs officials at targeted borders
   
• USAID has supported the EAC to develop a web-based trade statistics and market access requirements website, the EAC Trade Helpdesk. USAID supports the EAC Secretariat’s Finance Team and select regional financial institutions to increase financial market integration and promote reforms crucial to sustainable economic growth including transparency, financial inclusion, and economic justice.

Regional Productive Sectors:

• Through the Feed the Future Initiative, USAID seeks to increase access, availability and use of African-grown staple foods in regionally integrated markets. To achieve this, Feed the Future East Africa is making core investments to (a) integrate national and regional markets; (b) expand regional access to improved technology, knowledge and inputs; and (c) increase private sector investment in the region.
   
• USAID is supporting EAC to develop a Regional Food Security and Nutrition Policy and Strategy(FSNP).The first meeting of the FSNP working group was held in November 2012, where a draft of the EAC FSNP was prepared as the basis for future work. USAID will continue to support integration of international best practices and coordination of stakeholder input and peer review. In support of the FSNP, USAID supported the formation of a cross-cutting aflatoxin program with the EAC and Member States in November 2012.
   
• USAID support in clean energy and global climate change seeks to promote sustainable natural resource management and environmental conservation, and mitigate the effects of climate change across the East African region.

EAC Institutions:

USAID has directly supported the Lake Victoria Basin Commission since 2005 on the Trans-boundary Water for Biodiversity in the Mara River Basin Initiative. The Commission strives to establish a trans-boundary agreement to ensure water flows to sustain the biodiversity of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, and encourages implementation of harmonized river basin management practices and policies. In April 2013, the EAC, with USAID support, launched a new program called Planning for Resilience in East Africa through Policy, Adaptation, Research, and Economic Development (PREPARED).

The goal of the program is to strengthen the resiliency and sustainability of East African economies, trans-boundary freshwater ecosystems, and communities. The program focuses on the design and implementation of dynamic, long-term information management and planning mechanisms to help decision-makers within EAC Member States to prepare for and manage climatic threats and uncertainties including food security, livelihoods and environmental quality.