The way has been cleared for the East African Community (EAC) region to trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) tariff lines.
The six nation bloc has adopted 90 percent of the Tariff Offer for Category A products to be liberalized under the arrangement.
Some 5,129 tariff lines (90 percent) out of the total 5,688 lines to be liberalized in 10 years when trading under AfCFTA commences.
"EAC partner states are now among the parties that have met the minimum requirements for category A products", the secretariat has said.
The bloc can now start trading on a provisional basis under AfCFTA. The EAC has been negotiating the continental trade pact as a bloc.
An extraordinary ministerial meeting for trade,industry, finance and investment sectors held on Friday urged the region to brace up for the continental trade.
The Arusha-based EAC secretariat was specifically directed to immediately submit the EAC Tariff Offer for Category A products to the AfCFTA.
The secretariat, the executive arm of the Community, was also told to convene another meeting by mid April to consider Categories B and C of the EAC Tariff Offer.
The EAC Tariff Offers will now be subjected to verification by the AfCFTA Secretariat, which is based in Accra, Ghana.
The AfCFTA has so far verified 29 tariff offers to ensure that they meet the modalities and this will increase to 34 once the EAC Partner States offers are verified.
Verification of the tariff offers will ensure that AfCFTA member states which meet the benchmark start trading under the AfCFTA.
Kenya permanent secretary for EAC, Kevit Desai said AfCFTA would give six partner states access to an extended market of more than 900 million people.
The region would also benefit from increased opportunities for trade, employment creation, industrialisation and economic prosperity.
The expanded opportunities include manufactured products, value addition, regional value chains, agro-processing, motor vehicle assembly, pharmaceuticals, auto spares industries and mineral processing, among other areas.
On the determination of the maximum rate for the Common External Tariff (CET), the meeting directed the partner states to consult on the issue.
A recent analysis on the proposed maximum CET rates was undertaken by the EAC secretariat but comments are open from the member states.
An analysis made though proposed the maximum CET rates of 30 percent, 33 percent and 35 percent for products classified under the 4th band.
The proposed various maximum CET rates will have diverse macroeconomic impacts.
On the implications for revenue, the average potential short-term impact on EAC partner states total tax revenues increases by 3.9 percent, 4.9 percent and 5.5 percent.
On employment, employment generation increases marginally with 0.02 percent (5,055 persons) under the maximum rate of 30 percent, 0.03 percent (6,089 persons) with a maximum rate of 33 percent applied; and 0.03 percent (6,781 persons) increase in average EAC formal employment under the maximum rate of 35 percent.
On the implications for trade, potential trade diversion into the EAC (intra-EAC trade) increases by $13.03 million under the 30 percent maximum rate, $16.51 million with a maximum rate of 33 percent and 18.9 with the highest rate of 35 percent.
On industrial development, industrial production increases under each of the proposed maximum CET rates of 30 percent, 33 percent and 35 percent, with the highest rate of 35 percent conferring the greatest gains in industrial output.
There is a 0.02 percent ($7.7 million) increase in industrial output with an applied maximum rate of 30 percent, 0.03 percent ($10.3 million) increase in production with a rate of 33 percent and 0.04 percent ($12.1 million) increase in output with the highest rate at 35 percent.
The (AfCFTA) agreement is intended to create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating.
The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.
It has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, but achieving its full potential will depend on putting in place significant policy reforms and trade facilitation measures.
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