By Fidel Boy Leon
In East Africa, where economic winds shift quickly and competition grows ever fiercer, strong partnerships are the roots that anchor prosperity. And this week, Uganda and Kenya demonstrated how deep those roots can go.
By signing a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 30, 2025, the two nations moved to mutually recognise each other’s quality marks and standardisation systems.
This is a bold step that will eliminate trade bottlenecks, enhance industrial development, and solidify a future built on cooperation rather than fragmentation.
The proverb, “When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind” reminds us that with a shared foundation, nations need not fear external pressures or internal doubts. This agreement shows that when trust, transparency, and technical collaboration take root, the region is better equipped to weather any storm.
The MoU was signed in Nairobi by Eng. James Kasigwa, Executive Director of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), and Mrs. Esther Ngari, Managing Director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
The ceremony was witnessed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and President William Ruto, underscoring the high-level political commitment behind the agreement.
At its core, this bilateral agreement is designed to strengthen trade relations between Uganda and Kenya by removing unnecessary regulatory hurdles, improving market access for locally produced goods, and advancing industrial development through harmonised quality assurance systems.
It underscores both nations shared commitment to building robust, world-class regulatory frameworks that align with regional and international standards.
A key highlight of the deal is the mutual recognition of quality marks, where each country will now accept the other’s standardisation certifications issued under harmonised East African Community (EAC) and national standards. This streamlining ensures that goods cleared in Uganda can seamlessly enter Kenya, and vice versa, without being subjected to repetitive inspections or re-certifications.
Additionally, the agreement lays the groundwork for structured information exchange between the two countries’ regulatory bodies, including data on certified products, procedures for standards development, testing capabilities, and risk-based inspection protocols. This will not only enhance transparency but also support evidence-based regulation.
Further, the two countries have committed to recognising each other’s laboratory test reports, provided they follow internationally accepted methodologies while collaborating on benchmarking, lab development, and reducing duplication in product testing.
To support all these efforts, the agreement includes joint capacity-building programs for technical experts and quality professionals, with the goal of strengthening regional competence in conformity assessment, metrology, and the implementation of standards.
Uganda’s exporters have repeatedly faced trade barriers in Kenya, despite the East African Community (EAC) protocols promoting free movement of goods. One of the most affected sectors is dairy, with Kenya frequently withholding export permits for Ugandan milk products such as powdered and UHT milk. For instance, Brookside Dairy reportedly submitted over 100 exports.
permit applications since early 2023, many of which were delayed or denied, causing significant disruptions to Uganda’s dairy industry.
Similarly, Uganda’s sugar exports have been curtailed under the pretext of quality concerns or excess local supply in Kenya. Import quotas were dramatically reduced from 90,000 tonnes to as little as 19,000 tonnes, sharply impacting Uganda’s access to the Kenyan market.
The cereals trade has also faced turbulence. In March 2021, Kenya banned maize imports from Uganda and Tanzania, citing elevated aflatoxin levels, a move that triggered formal complaints and strained bilateral relations. Poultry and egg exports have not been spared either; Kenya introduced a 25 per cent excise duty on Ugandan table eggs and implemented various bans on poultry imports, ostensibly to protect its domestic producers in the wake of COVID-19.
Beyond agricultural products, Ugandan officials raised concerns over non-tariff barriers on goods such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and toothpaste, with complaints pointing to inconsistent testing standards, labelling disputes, and non-recognition of Ugandan certifications.
The newly agreed mutual recognition of standards between the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) aims to resolve these trade frictions. Once implemented, products certified in one country should no longer be subject to retesting or rejection at the border in the other, hence eliminating the costly and damaging non tariff barriers that have plagued trade in milk, sugar, cereals, eggs and more.
This MoU is a template for the entire East African Community (EAC). By aligning national standards and recognising each other’s certifications, Uganda and Kenya are reducing non-tariff barriers, increasing trust in local goods, and laying the groundwork for intra-African trade growth under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In a world where trade wars, protectionism, and supply chain disruptions are common, Uganda and Kenya are choosing trust and integration. They’re anchoring their economies in deep-rooted cooperation, the kind that doesn’t sway when winds blow, but rather grows stronger through each test.