Fresh produce faces new ban in European market

An exhibitor from Amiran Kenya sets his fresh produce during the Annual Naivasha Horticulture Trade Fair held in Naivasha, Nakuru County recently. Kenyan fruits and vegetables face ban in the EU market due to failure to meet set regulations. [Photo: Antony Gitonga/Standard]

Kenya’s fresh produce consisting of mainly fruits and vegetables to the European market faces a ban after farmers failed to meet the set standards and regulations.

The threat to ban the local produce could lead to massive job losses and greatly jolt the economy. It is happening at a time when the country is recovering from the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) impasse, which saw farmers lose about Sh900 million late last year.

As a result, the Government has cautioned farmers to pay attention to the rules and comply with the EU standards to avoid ban. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, the country had received several warnings from the EU regarding failed standards.

“We have in the last couple of months received a number of notifications from the EU regarding failure of our produce, mainly fresh fruits and vegetables to meet EU standards,” he said.

Closer collaboration

Dr Kibicho said called for closer collaboration among stakeholders in the sector. He wants them to urgently address the issue.

In a speech read on his behalf by senior State official Dr Peter Mutemia during the opening of the flower growers workshop in Naivasha, the PS noted that sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and issues were complex and needed concerted effort to manage them.

“The EU has even threatened to impose stricter inspection measures on some of our produce if the situation is not significantly improved,” he said. Kibicho was however optimistic that the issue could be resolved noting that EPAs provided a mechanism for two parties to engage on SPS before action is taken.

The PS admitted there were many challenges facing horticulture farmers that require being resolved faster to facilitate fair competition.

Some of the challenges according to him include high cost of power, poor infrastructure and inadequate water supply among others. “The Government fully understands these challenges and is committed to addressing them in line with our targets to grow the economy by double digits,” he said.

Quota-free status

Dr Kibicho however thanked the EU for considering Kenya’s case and reinstating it to the duty-free and quota-free status within a short time.

“It’s regrettable that the exporters had to incur huge losses when Kenya was briefly put under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences trade regime as a result of missing the deadline,” he said.

He said the missing of the deadline was due to the complexities of the negotiations and the fact that each party was targeting to have all its interests taken into account prior to the negotiations.