The regional assembly has passed a law that will compel partner states to eliminate barriers and end protectionism that has hindered smooth trade.

The East Africa Legislative Assembly (Eala) late Tuesday passed the Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Bill, 2015, as the bloc set its sights on deepening integration among its five member countries.

The Bill that was sponsored by the EAC Council of Ministers, the bloc’s top administrative and decision making organ, now awaits assent by the region’s heads of state to become operational.

“The object of the Bill, which is moved by the Council of Ministers, is to provide a legal mechanism for the elimination of identified non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in partner states,” the EAC secretariat said in a statement on Wednesday.

Besides barring EAC members from imposing any new NTBs, the new law seeks to establish a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the removal of NTBs within the partner states.

The region has lately witnessed a surge in disputes as partner states differed over administrative measures deemed injurious to free trade.

Only this week, Kenya and Tanzania diffused a stormy feud that saw the number of weekly flights by Kenya Airways into the neighbouring country slashed by more than half from 42 to 14 in retaliation to an earlier move by Kenya to bar Tanzanian-registered tour vans from entering Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzania counterpart reached a deal at the weekend that reversed both decisions, allowing for normalcy.

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Kenya has also been at loggerheads with Uganda over alleged imposition of NTBs.

A long-running feud between Ugandan traders and Kenyan authorities over the auction of uncollected cargo at the Mombasa port has escalated to the EAC leadership amid claims of unfairness.

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Uganda has accused Kenya of imposing a new non-tariff barrier by “selectively auctioning” Ugandan goods held at Mombasa port.

In a recent status update to the EAC on trade with Kenya, Uganda also raised concern over increased impounding of suspected counterfeit goods meant for its market at the port.

Further, Kenya and Tanzania are under renewed pressure to harmonise their port procedures and charges to ease flow of shipments to landlocked states in the trade bloc.