Press Release

EAC launches first One Stop Border Post at Holili/Taveta

Posted in Press Release

The East African Community today officially launched the first One Stop Border Post (OSBP) in Holili/Taveta towns on the Kenya/Tanzania border.

The facility was built at the cost of approximately US$12 million from TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).

The project was launched jointly by Tanzania's Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, Hon. Amb. Dr Augustine Mahiga, and Kenya's Labour and East African Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Phyllis Kandie.

Dr Mahiga said the One Stop Border Post will ease the movement of people from the two Partner States.

“It’s a demonstration of the trust between the two countries and that the One People, One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” said Dr Mahiga.

The Minister reaffirmed Tanzania’s commitment to the integration process by assenting to the OSBP Bill and concluding agreements for Management of OSBPs with all Partner States.

Dr Mahiga said the OSBP is set to increase efficiency by reducing time and transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters while crossing from one Partner State to the other.

The Minister further said that the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi road which was currently under construction would boost cross border trade and foster good neighbourliness between Kenya and Tanzania, adding that the two countries had demonstrated the political goodwill to implement EAC initiatives. 

Dr Mahiga said the next step was capacity building in the management of OSBPs to ensure smooth operation and better service delivery.

In her remarks, Hon. Kandie said that in addition to facilitating farmers and business persons from Northern Tanzania to access the Kenyan market, the Holili/Taveta OSBP will also enhance mutual interactions, create synergy and unity of purpose.

“I am pleased to appraise the substantial progress already recorded in the construction of the Taveta-Mwatate-Voi road section. Already, 75% of the road is complete and opened for use. It is anticipated that by the end of this year, the outstanding works on that section will be complete and the people of Taveta and Northern Tanzania for the first time will travel to and from Mombasa and other parts of Kenya with ease,” said Hon. Kandie, adding that the road would unlock the vast potential of the Taita-Taveta/Kilimanjaro region.

Hon. Kandie noted that Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) remained a big challenge on the economic front and should be addressed by all Partner States as a matter of urgency.

“NTBs constitute prolonged formalities, multiplicity of institutions, limited capacity at entry points, technical requirements and travel restrictions through convoys and time of day among others. These are implemented through protectionist tendencies among trading blocs commonly referred to as 'Behind the border measures'.

 

“The challenge that comes with the elimination of NTBs is their mutative nature. Their impact on intra-EAC trade flows is serious and real. They stifle trade; depress returns on investment, and add extra costs to goods traded across our borders,” said the Cabinet Secretary.

She emphasized Kenya’s commitment to continue working with other Partner States to strengthen regional mechanisms geared towards eliminating NTBs with a view of making the Community more competitive and promoting intra-regional trade.

EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera, disclosed that the Holili/Taveta OSBP is the first among eight on the borders of the EAC Partner States that have been completed and are awaiting to be commissioned.

Dr Sezibera said the EAC realized that the economies of Partner States were interdependent, adding that the best approach was to work together to reduce the costs of doing business.

“This OSBP will boost trade by facilitating faster clearance of cargo, realize significant reduction in transport costs and ensure effective border control mechanisms are put in place,” said the Secretary General.

Mr. Theo Lyimo, the Director OSBPs at TMEA, thanked their financiers especially - DFID, Canada, USAID and the World Bank for supporting the project.

“The One Stop Border Posts at Holili/Taveta are the first to be operationalised among the 15 OSBPs in East Africa and South Sudan through TradeMark East Africa's funding. We have invested about US$117 million in OSBPs and One Access Road, and what is exciting about this is that we expect a return of $30 for every dollar invested,” said Lyimo. 

Also present at the function was the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Dr Enos Bukuku and heads of diplomatic missions from the EAC Partner States.

 

One Stop Border Post set for Launch at Holili-Taveta on 27th Feb 2016

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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.

17th EAC Heads of State Summit set for 2nd March, 2016 in Arusha, Tanzania

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The 17th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit has been rescheduled for 2nd March, 2016 in Arusha, Tanzania.

Top on the agenda of the long-awaited meeting will be the consideration of reports by the EAC Council of Ministers on: the negotiations on the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community; Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for the EAC, and; the EAC Institutional Review.

The meeting will also consider Council reports on: the Model, Structure and Action Plan of the EAC Political Federation; Implementation of the Framework for Harmonized EAC Roaming Charges; Modalities for Promotion of Motor Vehicle Assembly in the region and Reduction of the Importation of Used Motor Vehicles from Outside the Community, and; the Promotion of the Textile and Leather Industries in the region, and stopping importation of Used Clothes, Shoes and Other Leather Products from outside the region.

The Summit is also expected to deliberate on a report by the Council on the verification exercise for the admission of the Republic of Somalia into the EAC.

The Heads of State are expected to launch the new International East African e-Passport (electronic-passport) during the meeting.

Also scheduled to be launched by the Summit is the Private Sector Fund which is expected to deepen the participation of the private sector in the East African integration process.

The Summit will be preceded by a meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers that will take place at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha on 29th February, 2016.

 

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