By Jenifer James
The Acting Director General for External Trade in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Augustino Kenyi, announced on Friday that the Ministry, in collaboration with the National Chamber of Commerce, has formed a joint committee to address the escalating trade disruptions caused by non-tariff barriers (NTBs) along the Nimule-Juba road.
The announcement came after an emergency meeting on Friday, where the acting director general for external trade, Augustino Kenyi, revealed that approximately 3,000 vehicles are stranded in Elegu due to a strike. The strike stems from complaints about over 20 unauthorized road collections between Nimule and Juba.
“The National Ministry of Trade and Industry has called this meeting because there are around 3,000 vehicles are sitting in Elegu because of a strike. They did not want to come. They raised a lot of issues that a lot of NTB, non-tariff barriers, are existing between Nimule Road and Juba Road. Over 20 NTB road collections are happening between Nimule and Juba.”
According to Kenyi, the ministry has agreed to form a seven-member committee, three from the National Chamber of Commerce and four from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to investigate the unauthorized collections and the root causes of the strike.
The committee is tasked with compiling a report by Monday, identifying those involved in the NTBs, and proposing solutions. According to Kenyi, institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Roads, and the Immigration and Fire Brigade are implicated in the unauthorized collections.
Meanwhile, John Lual Akol, the Deputy Chairperson of the National Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture, and Industry, said the NTBs imposed by various institutions and individuals have severely disrupted the navigation of goods entering the country through Nimule Border.