Every year before 1 July the East African Community Council of Ministers gazettes changes to the Common External Tariff, the duty schedule that all partner states apply to goods entering the bloc from outside. KPMG's summary of the 2026/27 legal instruments, which took effect on 1 July 2026, describes the thrust as higher tariffs on selected finished goods combined with duty relief for manufacturing inputs, strategic projects and priority sectors. If you import stock for resale, some of your landed costs changed three months ago.
How the tariff works
The EAC Customs Union Protocol was signed in Arusha on 2 March 2004; Rwanda and Burundi joined the Customs Union in 2008 and began applying its instruments in July 2009. Alongside the common schedule, partner states can apply for a "stay of application", permission to charge a different rate on specific tariff lines, and for "duty remission", which lets approved manufacturers import inputs at reduced or zero duty. Those country-specific measures are what change most from year to year.
Uganda
KPMG reports that Uganda's sensitive products list was expanded to processed foods and household consumables, including certain edible oils, butter, biscuits, sausages and prepared foods, with rates ranging from 36 to 60 percent of customs value. Uganda also raised its stay of application from 25 to 35 percent on PVC trunking, tarpaulins, ceramic toilet seats and cisterns, and baby diapers, and extended remission for textile, garment and footwear manufacturers. For a supermarket or hardware importer, those are the lines to re-cost first.
Kenya
Selected furniture items were reclassified as sensitive goods, moving from 35 to 45 percent. Specified baby diapers and handbags rose from 25 to 35 percent. Duty remission continues for approved textile and garment makers.
Tanzania
Duty on vitenge fell from 50 to 35 percent. Tanzania applies 35 percent instead of 25 on doors, windows, horticultural products and baby diapers, and reduced duty to zero on buses carrying more than 25 people and on smart cards for national ID programmes.
Rwanda
Rwanda applies zero duty on electric and hybrid buses and trucks, and raised its stay from 25 to 35 percent on aluminium sufurias, kettles and milk cans. Remission was expanded to plastics, packaging, agro-processing and light manufacturing inputs.
Regional measures
Across several partner states there are higher duties on selected steel, iron and aluminium products, zero duty for qualifying government and public-private infrastructure projects, and a temporary suspension of local-sourcing rules for motorcycle kit components such as frames, mudguards and wheel rims.
The Single Customs Territory still applies
None of this changes how goods are cleared. Under the Single Customs Territory, rolled out from July 2014, duties are assessed and paid in the destination partner state while the cargo is still at the first port of entry, on a single declaration. The EAC reports that transit time from Dar es Salaam fell from 21 days to 7 and from Mombasa from 18 days to 4 after the system was introduced. Your clearing agent pays Uganda's rate at Mombasa; what changed on 1 July is the rate, not the route.
A checklist for importers
- List every product you import by tariff line, not by supplier description. The stay of application is written against HS codes.
- Ask your clearing agent for the duty actually paid on the last consignment of each line and compare it with the same line in June.
- Re-cost affected products and reset shelf prices before the festive orders are placed.
- If you manufacture or assemble anything, check whether your inputs now qualify for remission; the saving can be larger than any price rise.
- Keep the gazette reference with your costing notes, so that next year's changes can be compared line by line.
Sources
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