Legal Framework
The EAC has put in place sufficient legal framework that has created a conducive legal environment for investments to thrive. This legal framework is enabling EAC Partner States to cooperate in the areas of Investment and Industrial Development to harness the investment potential to promote economic growth and development in the region.
The legal framework is also enabling harmonisation and rationalisation of investment incentives with a view to promoting the EAC as a single investment area. It is also enabling efficiency in production. This EAC legal framework is provided for in: the EAC Treaty Articles, 79-80 and 127-129; The EAC Customs Union Protocol, Article 3 (c) and (d); The EAC Customs Management Act Article 25; The EAC Competition Act; the EAC Common Market Protocol Articles 23 and 29; and The EAC Model Investment Code 2006.
The legal framework of the EAC
| Act | Status |
| Treaty and Protocols | |
| Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC | Signed in 1999, in force since 2000 |
| Protocol on the Establishment of the EAC Customs Union | Signed in November 2004, in force since January 2005 |
| Protocol on the Establishment of the EAC Common Market | Signed in November 2009, in force since July 2010 |
| Protocol for the Establishment of the EAC Monetary Union | Signed in November 2013, in force since 2014 |
| Legislation | |
| The EAC Customs Management Act, 2004 | Last amendment in 2012, in force |
| The EAC Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Act, 2017 | In force - not ratified |
| The EAC One Stop Border Posts Act, 2016 | In force |
| The EAC Vehicle Load Control Act, 2013 | In force |
| The EAC Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency Act,2009 | In force |
| The EAC Competition Act, 2006 | Last amendment in 2009, in force since December 2014 |
| The EAC Trade Negotiations Act, 2008 | In force (in the process of being repealed) |
| The EAC Standardization Quality Assurance Metrology and Testing Act, 2006 | In force |
| EAC Investment Policy 2019-2024 | Still in draft form |
Source: Trade Policy Review of the EAC by WTO, 2019 and EAC Secretariat