What is the East African Community Customs Union?
The EAC Customs Union is the arrangement under which East African Community partner states trade goods with each other without customs duty and apply a common external tariff to goods from outside. Only goods that qualify as originating in the region receive the internal treatment.
Who is in it
The EAC website lists eight partner states. Customs Declare's membership table currently lists six of them.
- EAC website: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
- In our data: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia are not yet in our table, so check how customs treats them before you rely on regional treatment.
How it works
- The Customs Union Protocol was signed on 2 March 2004 and became operational on 1 January 2005, according to our source record.
- Qualifying goods moving between partner states pay no customs duty. Goods from outside the community pay the community's common external tariff.
- The 2015 Rules of Origin decide what qualifies. The rules treat the partner states as one territory, so materials and processing in any partner state count towards origin.
- Cumulation also extends to materials from countries or blocs with which the community has a free trade agreement, under conditions set out in Rule 8 of the Rules.
- Goods must travel directly between partner states, though transhipment or packing abroad that does not confer origin does not disqualify them.
What Customs Declare holds
Our database holds the product-specific origin rules from the First Schedule of the 2015 Rules, effective 1 January 2015. They cover 5,612 HS six-digit codes in 7,760 rule rows, and one product can have alternative rules. The rows are split as follows:
- Change of tariff heading: 3,200 rows.
- Maximum value of non-originating materials: 2,457 rows, most set at 70%.
- Specific process requirements: 1,226 rows.
- Wholly produced goods: 816 rows.
- Maximum weight of non-originating materials: 61 rows, all at 30%.
Using it in practice
To claim duty-free treatment on a shipment you must show the goods meet the rule for their tariff line and hold the proof the Rules require. The steps, the validity period and the exemptions are in the origin rules guide. Where our data does not include a partner state or a rate, the duty calculator says so.
Frequently asked questions
Is trade inside the EAC always duty-free?
Not automatically. The goods must qualify as originating under the rules of origin and be supported by the required proof. Goods that do not qualify are treated as imports from outside.
Is the EAC the same as the AfCFTA?
No. The EAC is a regional customs union among its partner states. The AfCFTA is a continent-wide free trade area. A shipment may qualify under one, both or neither, and you claim only one.
Why does the site list eight members but you list six?
Our membership table has not yet been updated for the two newest partner states. Rules-of-origin rows in our data apply to the community as a whole, but check with customs before relying on regional treatment for DRC or Somalia.
Sources
Last verified: 2026-09-29
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