Prime
Kenya govt lifts ban on Ugandan poultry products
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya.
What you need to know:
- A joint communique shared with newsrooms on Tuesday indicated that the two sides will not impose restrictions on poultry products, the most contentious issue in their trade dispute.
Kenya has lifted a ban blocking Ugandan poultry products from entering its market.
In a statement released yesterday, the two countries state that they had “agreed to immediately remove any administrative measures that have hitherto inhibited trade in poultry and poultry products”.
This follows a warning by government that Uganda would retaliate against Kenya for continuously blocking Ugandan products from its market.
The ban, which also affects beef exports, was imposed in January. This, according to the Kenyan government was to support recovery of its farmers who had been affected by Covid-19.
The statement was released after concluding a day of negotiations between a delegation from Uganda led by Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze and their Kenyan counterparts led by Mr Peter Munya, the country’s cabinet secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives.
The Ugandan delegation arrived in Kenya on Monday.
The meeting, which the two ministers described as cordial, also discussed the recent interception of fish in transit from Kenya to Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
It was agreed, according to the statement, that both Uganda and Kenya establish a team of key stakeholders including the revenue and fisheries authorities to work out a transit mechanism for fish from Lake Turkana in Kenya to DR Congo through Uganda.
The two ministers also discussed the persistence of domestic levies maintained by both countries in contravention of the EAC Customs Union protocol.
On this issue, the ministers recalled their commitment to remove the levies during the April bilateral trade meeting held in Kampala.
The ministers undertook to remove all the levies not later than July 1, 2022.
The ministers also agreed to continue cooperating on matters relating to trade in sugar, including streamlining issuance of import permits and on the exportation of milk, they agreed that Kenya undertakes a verification exercise of Uganda’s dairy sector during the last week of January 2022.
