Lubezine Magazine Vol. 4 Lubezine Magazine Vol. 4 | Page 6

Oil degradation P.22 See also THEMarketREPORT NEWS • BRIEFING • N E W P RO D U CTS • T E C H N O LO GY TARIFFS Eac to remove preferential tariff treatment on lubes produced within eac block T he East African Community trading block comprises of five countries two of which blend lubricants. Kenya and Tanzania have fully fledged blending plants that produce various grades of lubricants. These are then exported to other EAC member countries like Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Additionally, some lubricants blended in Kenya are exported to Tanzania and vice versa. The product are also exported to other non-EAC member countries such as Ethiopia, DRC, Djibouti, South Sudan and Zambia. According to the EAC rules of origin, products produced within the block can be exported to member countries at preferential tariff treatment. Generally, this means that the products will be exempted from duty payment. In February of this year, a team comprising custom experts from Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania , Uganda and Kenya concluded a research whose objectives was to study the production process and establish the extent of transformation and ascertain if the lubricating oils produced within the block qualify for preferential tariff treatment in accordance with the provisions of the EAC origin. The EAC secretariat was represented by customs officer in charge of tariffs and valuation, Mr. Ally Alexander. The experts visited two blending plants in Tanzania namely Oryx oil and Petrolube and those in Kenya namely Oilibya and Kenya Shell. To determine how much value addition was incurred in blending lubricants in the region, the costs of the products were broken down into the cost of base oils, additives, packaging materials , direct labour ,cost, direct expenses, over- heads, production losses and other miscellaneous expenses. With the exception of base oil and additives cost, all the other costs were taken to be value addition costs. For most products the percentage value addition was ranging from 33% to 34%. The minimum value stipulated by the commission is 40% value addition. Consequently the team of experts concluded that most lubricants produced in the region do not meet the value addition threshold required to qualify for preferential treatment under the EAC rules of origin. . NEW PRODUC T Motorol Lubricants Open Shop In Kenya OIL ZONE FZE, one of the leading lubricants manufacturers based in UAE has opened up shop in Kenya where it is trading as OILZONE (EAST AFRICA) LTD. The company markets lubricants under the brand name “Motorol”. With its headquarters located along Mombasa road, the company is also serving Uganda and plans to venture into the Tanzanian market soon. MOTOROL lubricants foray in the oil segment began in 1970 in India. OILZONE FZE was established as a lubricants 4 manufacturing and blending unit in the year 2004, manufacturing and marketing the products under the brand name of MOTOROL lubricants.” We are equipped with state of the art manufacturing facilities and a highly trained professional work force with more than 3 decades of experience,” said the country operations manager, Mr. Jitesh Barot According to Mr. Jitesh, the innovative technical team at MOTOROL Lubricants has been responsible for development of about 120 grades of high quality lubricants and Specialty products. The range includes automotive, industrial and specialty oils such as printing ink oil and aluminum rolling oil. Mr. Jitesh affirms that the company’s ability to offer better stock management along with shipping time means that the company can process orders quickly and ensure faster delivery times. This helps in achievement of the company’s motto “Nobody benefits more than a MOTOROL Lubricants Customer”. . Lubezine Magazine | July-September 2012