South Sudan stands to have unfettered access to the UK market if a trade agreement between Kenya and the European country sails through. This is after Kenya and the UK penned Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal on December 8, 2020, which could as well extend trade benefits to other East African Community member states.

The deal—which was signed by the London International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Minister Betty Maina—sought to ensure that Kenyan traders can export goods to the UK duty-free and quota-free. According to an article by the East African, EPA agreement ropes in other East Africa Community states— comprising South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania—by according them similar trading privileges.

 “This agreement shall be open to accession by any state that is a Contracting Party to The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. A request for accession shall be submitted to the EPA Council,” the deal reads in part.

 During the signing of the deal in 2020, Mr Jayawardena said his country was delighted by the prospects of working with EAC. He said, ‘‘Today’s agreement is also the first step towards a regional agreement with the East African Community, and I look forward to working with other members to secure an agreement to forge ever-closer trading ties.’’ Oppositions According to the memorandum signed between Kenya and the UK, the deal had taken effect on December 31, 2020. The memorandum indicated that the agreement would only be terminated in one month upon issuance of one month notice or on a shorter period agreeable to the parties.

 Despite being active, the implementation hit a snag after the UK parliament passed a motion delaying the ratification by three weeks from February 10. “…Lord Goldsmith to move to resolve that this House calls upon Her Majesty’s Government, in accordance with section 21 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, to extend the scrutiny period for the Agreement establishing an Economic Partnership Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the Re[1]public of Kenya, a Member of the East African Community, of the other part, laid before the House on 17 December 2020, by 21 sitting days,” read the motion tabled in the British parliament extending the period of ratification. The UK lawmakers faulted the London administration for failing to put checks and balances upon an evaluation on how the deal would impact the EAC trade agreements. The parliamentarians also chose to probe the government on why it failed to replicate the EU’s Market Access Regulation (MAR), which initially allowed Kenya to access the market in similar terms before the country ratified Brexit in December 2020.

“Concerns have been expressed that the UK-Kenya Agreement may have disruptive political and economic impacts on the East African Community, and during negotiations between the UK and Kenyan governments in 2020, other EAC members expressed opposition to the two countries’ bilateral decision to roll over the EU-EAC EPA, expressing their preference to renegotiate a future deal as one trading bloc” Kenyan media quotes UK parliamentary committee noting.

But even if it were to sail through the UK parliament, trouble still awaits it at the parliamentary corridors of Kenya. Nairobi lawmakers also slammed brakes on it as they accused the Kenyan government of pushing a deal whose contents are unknown.

 On Monday, March 1, Kenya Small Scale Farmer Forum (KSSF) protested the signing of the deal saying it lacked public participation and would strangle local businesses. “The agreement indicates an open market with heavily subsidized tariffs for the UK farm products like chicken, pigs and maize that have the dangerous potential to destroy local production of the very same products,” the farmers protested. The opposition moved the Kenyan ministry of trade to slap embargo on some UK goods which are normally produced locally. According to a UK government source, Kenya ‘exports tea, coffee and spices valued at £121 million, vegetables worth £79 million and live trees and plants, mostly flowers £54 million.’ The UK on the other hand exports machinery, technical equipment and electronics tariff-free to Kenya. Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda have asked for a one-year grace period to enable them to sign a deal as a bloc