author(s)
William George

abstract
The study was conducted to assess the economic effects of the non-tariff barriers on small and medium agro-enterprises involved in the East African Community cross border trade in Tanzania. It was compared by small and medium agro-enterprises who trade locally similar products within Tanzania. Simple random technique was used to select 210 respondents both trading locally within the country and those engaged in the cross border trade. Agricultural goods selected were maize, beans and rice as major crops traded within the East African Community region. Costs Benefit Analysis method was used to ascertain the projected Net Present Value between exporting agricultural products and trading similar products within the country, and to analyze the effect of non-tariff barriers. The results indicate that small and medium agro-enterprises engaged in East African Community cross border trade are affected by 26% of additional transport costs resulting from non-tariff barriers. However, there are potential benefits to be earned by small and medium agro-enterprises engaged in cross border trade if non-tariff barriers are reduced. It is recommended that the government and private institutions should decentralize to help in registering and monitoring agribusiness sector at regional and district level and help to abolish non-tariff barriers.