Sugarcane farmers want tax waivers on exports

Sugarcane farmers in Busoga sub-region have urged government to relax the rules at the weighbridges to enable them increase on the exports to Kenya.
Mr Isa Budugho, the chairperson of the Busoga sugarcane outgrowers, made the plea yesterday following reports that sugar factories in Kenya need at least 600 metric tonnes of cane daily to perform to full capacity.
Mr James Malinzi, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) customs manager in-charge of eastern region, at the weekend said: “The demand for raw cane by the sugar manufacturers in Kenya on a daily basis is at about 600 metric tonnes.”
Mr Malinzi’s proclamation comes after the Kenyan government opened their market to Ugandan sugarcane outgrowers, a move that has since seen about 1,000 metric tonnes exported to Kenya.
Mr Budugho said it is possible for them to supply even more than 600 tonnes to Kenya on a daily basis if their trucks are given a waiver on weighbridges and are not penalised for loading excess cane.
“There are many farmers who have not registered their cane with any factory. I recently heard that some farmers in Wairaka [Jinja] had about 3,000 tonnes. If the farmers can be allowed to cross into Kenya without weighing their axles, we can even supply more than what the Kenyan sugar companies are craving for on a daily basis,” he added.
According to Mr Budugho, the maximum weight for each six-tyre sugarcane truck destined for Kenya is three tonnes for its axle and 18 tonnes for the vehicle and load. The weight for a 10-tyre sugarcane truck is 26 tonnes.
Kenya had restricted the sale of Ugandan raw cane to their market due to smuggling and lack of import-export permits from the Kenya Plant Health Services and the Directorate of Sugar Services, while Kampala had not clearly come out to allow the sale of sugarcane across the border. But following a meeting between President Museveni and his Kenyan counterpart, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, two weeks ago, Ugandan farmers were granted permission to export cane to Kenya for a period of three months.
According to statistics at Busia customs, 53 trucks carrying about 1,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane have crossed into Kenya since the permission was granted. Mr Malinzi expects the volume of sugarcane exports to Kenya to increase in the coming weeks because “we are seeing more farmers and exporters getting acquainted with the process involved”.
OPTIMISM
The difference. Mr Derrick Kigozi, a transporter, said the opening of the Kenyan market was good for Ugandan farmers who had suffered low prices for their produce.
He added that sugar manufacturers in Uganda are offering Shs100,000 for a tonne of cane yet those in Kenya buy it at Shs150,000.