Uganda: SEATINI, UMA Send Import Message to Kenya

By Development Diaries
March 23, 2021

Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) in Uganda has urged the government of Kenya to lift the ban on dairy imports.

The Kenyan government last year banned dairy imports from Uganda, citing complaints by Kenyan farmers over the influx of Ugandan milk which was being priced lower than the one produced in their home country.

The country also stopped corn imports from Uganda and Tanzania, saying tests on the grain from the two neighbouring nations revealed high levels of mycotoxins.

Mycotoxins are poisonous compounds produced by certain types of molds that grow on foodstuffs such as cereals and nuts in warm and humid conditions, either before or after harvest.

Kenya has since lifted the ban with strict conditions.

Uganda produces 2.6 billion litres of milk every year, but domestic demand stands at only 800 million litres, creating a huge surplus that foreign markets especially Kenya would consume.

The Executive Director of SEATINI Uganda, Jane Nalunga, said just like Kenya lifted the ban on maize imports from Uganda, it should do the same for dairy and other products if fair trade is to be talked about in the EAC economy.

EAC is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six partner states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

For his past, Executive Director of Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), Daniel Birungi, says there should not be abrupt ban on imports within the EAC economies.

He called on partner states to find diplomatic solutions and not diplomatic rows, urging Kenya and Uganda to walk the talk in line with implementing trade policies that facilitate growth of businesses and the entire EAC economy.

Data from Bank of Uganda indicates that in 2018/2019, Uganda’s total imports from Kenya amounted to $711 million and exports were $433 million.

Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Amelia Kyambadde, had said that the country was considering writing a protest note to Kenya expressing its dissatisfaction on how the ban on maize was handled.

Source: Independent