Despite the East African Community’s (EAC) legal commitment to eliminate all non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under Article 13 of the
Customs Union Protocol, such measures remain widespread and structurally entrenched. Drawing on a multi-method
dataset—compiling four years of official NTB complaints, a census of border-clearing agents, and a panel survey of 1,500 cross-
border traders between Kenya and Uganda—this paper maps the patterns and gauges the pervasiveness of NTBs across the region.
We find that (i) administrative and customs procedures (multiple roadblocks, duplicative inspections, and non-recognition of EAC
certificates) account for 38 % of all reported barriers; (ii) standards and conformity assessment (non-harmonised SPS rules, selective
labelling requirements) comprise 27 %; and (iii) informal rent-seeking—bribes at weighbridges and police checkpoints—adds a de-
facto 4–7 % tax equivalent, with small traders bearing the heaviest burden. NTBs cluster at four “choke-point” corridors—Malaba,
Namanga, Mutukula, and Taveta—where 71 % of respondents experienced delays exceeding 24 hours in 2022. While 184 NTBs
have been formally resolved since 2017, our stock-take reveals 33 new or unresolved barriers, suggesting a dynamic “whack-a-mole”
pattern. Sectorally, agro-processed goods and textiles face the highest incidence, with exporters to Tanzania and South Sudan
encountering 1.7 times more obstacles than intra-Kenya–Uganda flows. Counterfactual simulations indicate that full elimination of the
observed NTBs could raise intra-EAC trade by 14–20 % and cut average border dwell time from four days to under one. The paper
concludes with a proposed “traffic-light” taxonomy—red (prohibited), amber (negotiable), green (justified)—to operationalise the
EAC’s elimination mechanism and prevent the resurgence of protectionist NTBs.