The platform at COMESA‑EAC‑SADC Secretariat allows traders and other stakeholders to report NTBs, monitor status, and track resolution. (tradebarriers.org)
Covers EAC Partner States and enables transparency and follow-up of reported barriers. (East African Community)
Useful for small traders, cooperatives, cross-border agroecological goods facing undue inspections, transit delays, administrative fees.
EAC Secretariat NTB Monitoring Mechanism
The EAC Secretariat has established National Monitoring Committees (NMCs) in each Partner State, and a Regional Monitoring Committee (RMC). (East African Community)
Under the East African Community Elimination of Non‑Tariff Barriers Act 2017, Partner States are required to “formulate a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the removal of NTBs”. (East African Community)
The EAC launched a mobile application: “EAC Elimination of NTBs Mobile App”, enabling reports via smartphone in English, Swahili, French. (East African Community)
Particularly useful for border-level traders (women/youth cooperatives) dealing with agroecological goods encountering barriers.
Grievance Tracking / Status Reporting
The portal allows users to register, track complaints, view “Resolved vs Outstanding” statistics. (tradebarriers.africa)
Example: On tradebarriers.africa website you can “View Resolved Complaints” and the status of each case. (tradebarriers.africa)
Why It Matters for Agroecological Products
Small‐scale cross-border traders of agroecological goods may face specific NTBs: e.g., repeated SPS inspections, non-recognition of organic certification, transit delays, paperwork duplications. The above mechanisms allow these issues to be formally logged.
Monitoring/tracking these barriers supports your tool’s institutional coordination, risk management, and sustainability components (e.g., ensuring women/youth agroecological traders are not unfairly delayed).
The fact that the EAC has resolved many NTBs (e.g., 230+ barriers resolved) demonstrates the mechanism is functional. (East African Community)
Practical Steps to Use These Mechanisms
Document the barrier: e.g., at the border OSBP, your coop experiences repeated ad-hoc fee for organic honey transit. Note date, border post, product, and nature of impediment.
Report via portal or app: Use TradeBarriers.org or EAC NTB App. Provide details: product, value chain stage, barrier category (customs, SPS, transit, transport).
Monitor status: Via portal, you can track whether the National Monitoring Committee or Secretariat has acknowledged/assigned the issue.
Follow-up & escalate: If unresolved within a time-bound schedule (< 3-6 months depending), escalate via NMC or trade ministry.
Feed into your tool/report: Use NTB data as input into your mapping of institutional mandates, capacity gaps, and trade facilitation strategy (for agroecological products).
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Be the first to know about new data, tools, and trends in agroecological produce trade.
