Explanation:

• East African Community (EAC) traders stand to benefit from faster clearance of their goods and lower costs of running their business following the signing of a Joint Action Plan between the EAC and the Government of India.
• The Joint Action Plan will pave the way for a full Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) between the two parties.
• The MRA once realised, will benefit companies under the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Programme run by the EAC Partner States under the coordination of the EAC Secretariat since 2008.
• The selection of India as an MRA partner was based on the principle of mutual recognition and the fairly steady trade between the EAC and India over the past five years (2014 – 2018), which cumulatively amounted to over $30 billion.