The Agricultural Minister Peter Munya stated that the government of Kenya did not in any way to ban the import of maize from Uganda or Tanzania. Although there was a concern from the government that there was a high level of aflatoxin in the maize that was coming from Uganda and Tanzania. There was letter dated to march 2021where the government states their concerns over these high levels but Peter Munya put aall that to rest stating that Kenya is in a liberalized market where free trade must be facilitated.
Munya went to say that “Nobody has banned importation of maize because you cannot ban trading in East Africa, but we must ensure that standards that are already recognized in our protocols are observed, every trade must be balanced and there is always the issue of the protection of the consumer from substandard goods and dumping of cheap goods. These are safeguards that are allowed by the law in a liberalized market, Even as we encourage free trade, it is in the interest of the public to make sure that there is safety, not just from what is coming into Kenya but also what is internal.”
It was Lawrence Omuhaka who is of the Consumer safety Authority who stated that it was ok for there to be high levels of aflatoxin as long as it did not go beyond 10 parts per billion anything more than this is harmful and should not be consumed.
Omuhaka went on to say that “While we strive to give Kenyans safe food by addressing the various challenges in the production systems, we equally expect our trading partners to trade in safe maize as per East African Community standards. That provided the maximum limits of aflatoxin to be 10 parts per Billion, All consignments to be accompanied by documents including the certificate of conformity of the produce issued by a competent authority from the exporting country. This will be verified by crops inspectors at all border points, Importers will be required to declare details of the warehouses where the produce shall be offloaded upon clearance at the border points. This will prevent the malpractice of drying of maize in open spaces in various towns. I also urge maize traders to obtain a certificate of origin of produce before clearance into the country.”
