Kenya will challenge the regional court’s decision to halt the EU trade agreement

Trade Minister Lee Kinyanjui announced on Wednesday that Kenya will file an appeal against a regional court decision that stopped a trade agreement with the European Union, noting that the decision jeopardizes $1.56 billion in yearly exports to the EU.

According to Kinyanjui, the East Africa Court of Justice in Tanzania halted the deal’s implementation on Monday while a non-governmental organization challenged it.

In order to ensure its goods market access to the 27-nation bloc and to lay out a timeline for European goods to gradually enter the Kenyan market, Kenya and the EU inked an Economic Partnership Agreement in 2023.

The Centre for Law Economics and Policy, an NGO, filed a case against Kenya on the grounds that the agreement with the EU violated certain provisions of the treaty establishing the East African Community common market, of which Kenya is a member, according to a summary of the case against the agreement on the court’s website.

According to Kinyanjui, the commerce ministry has now filed a lawsuit to overturn the court’s decision. The government did not specify when the court would consider the appeal.

“The Kenya-EU EPA is the lifeline of our booming exports and a source of livelihood to a large majority of Kenyans,” Kinyanjui said in a statement.

“Kenya will continue to trade with the EU and steps are being taken to ensure continuity, predictability and protection of our existing commercial arrangements.”

According to the ministry, Kenya imported $2.09 billion worth of commodities from the EU last year, while exporting $1.56 billion worth of goods to the bloc.

Since the U.S. government imposed higher tariffs this year, African countries have been seeking to expand their exports to markets like China and the EU.

A comment from the secretariat of the East African Community was not immediately available.