Rwandan exporters will continue to access the United Kingdom’s market duty-free even after the country has exited the European Union (EU), the UK government has said. The UK government will leave the EU on December 31, paving a way for the country to negotiate its own trade deals. Under the current arrangement, Rwandan exporters have been exporting to EU markets without paying duties on many products. This is thanks to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). The scheme makes it easier for traders from developing countries to export their products to the European Union. This is done in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods when entering the EU market. The UK government said it will introduce its GSP scheme on January 1, 2021 under which developing countries like Rwanda will continue to access duty-free markets of the UK. The UK GSP will help businesses continue to export to the UK and provide the same level of access as the current EU trade preference scheme by granting duty-free, quota-free access to the 47 countries that the UN classifies as LDC’s and granting tariff reductions to other developing countries. The UK GSP is calculated on the basis of the UK Global Tariff. It removes those tariffs currently removed by the EU GSP and provides the same percentage points reduction on products as provided by the EU GSP. “As per the EU GSP, Rwanda will access UK GSP preferences under the LDC Framework that provides duty-free, quota-free access on all products except arms/ammunition to all concerned countries,” a letter sent to exporters from Jo Lomas, British High Commissioner to Rwanda, reads in part. Rwandans mostly export vegetables, fruits, flowers, and chilli to the UK market, among other products. The UK government is currently negotiating a trade deal with East African Community member states, including Rwanda that would enable exporters to have more advantages when exporting to the UK. Most of these negotiations haven’t materialized except for Kenya. The UK government signed a post-Brexit preferential trade deal with Kenya, paving the way for a long-term treaty that will shield Kenyan exports from high tariffs.
