Kenya has been promised the same level of access to European Union markets as received by its poorer neighbours Uganda and Tanzania once a new trade deal takes effect in 2008, Kenya's trade minister said on Tuesday.
The EU is negotiating new economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to replace the Cotonou Agreement that guarantees preferential access for their goods into Europe until the end of 2007.
Kenya has been pushing for the conclusion of the negotiations, saying its exporters could otherwise be placed at a disadvantage compared with countries like Tanzania and Uganda. Because they - unlike Kenya - are classified as least developed countries (LDCs), they are guaranteed duty-free market access for their goods into the EU.
"We have received in writing a commitment from the European Union (that) when the EPAs we're negotiating formally come into force, Kenya will have equal market access ... as if it was an LDC," Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi told a news conference.
"We don't have to recategorise ourselves as poorer than we are in order to get the market access of the poorer countries." Last month the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel urged African countries to agree on the new trade arrangement with Europe by the end of the year or risk losing valuable commerce.
Whereas the three countries have been in the East African Community's customs union since January 2005, Kenyan and Ugandan businesses still faced non-tariff hurdles such as illegal visa fees when trading with Tanzania, Kituyi said.
Last month, Rwanda and Burundi also joined the union. "The most recurrent non-tariff barrier that comes up at all the (EAC) council meetings is a visa fee levied on all the exporters from Kenya and Uganda into Tanzania," Kituyi said.
"It's an illegal fee ... but they still administer it and issue government receipts." A survey released last week by the East African Business Council showed that Kenyan businesses were more affected by onerous customs procedures and administrative requirements than Tanzania and Uganda.