Kenyan Government cancels 66 fresh produce export licences

The European Union banned dimethoate in 2009 but stakeholders filed a suit in the High Court and the ban was lifted last year. [PHOTO: FILE]

By NICHOLAS WAITATHU

The Government has cancelled the licences of 66 fresh produce exporters for violating certification standards.

The companies are said to have sourced fresh produce containing dimethoate and other organophosphate chemicals blamed for the rise in cancer in Europe and also locally.

Horticultural Crops Development Authority Managing Director Dr Alfred Serem said the de-registered companies failed to provide a list of farmers and their location who supply them with produce.

Certification process

They also failed to declare the source of produce, packing facilities and provide an inspection report.

 “We cancelled their licenses because they failed to demonstrate to us that they have passed the certification process,” said Dr Serem.

“We were interested to find out, whether the produce they are exporting contains dimethoate and other organophosphate chemicals which have been banned in the European Union market.”

Other components on the checklist include a signed contract with the growers and evidence to indicate the planters’ compliance with global agricultural practices. The exporters further failed to indicate how much land the farmers owned and the training programmes they employed. The remaining companies, he said are being monitored on a quarterly basis.

More than 5,000 local fresh produce farmers are losing millions of shillings following a ban by the European Union (EU) due high level of residue pesticides in French beans exports. Early this year, the EU revised downward rules that govern maximum residual levels requiring that 10 per cent of all French beans exports be subjected to laboratory tests.

More than 5,000 farmers who have exported fresh produce containing the said chemicals have been banned from the market.  Serem said that between last year and July this year the number of registered fresh produce exporters has declined from 200 to 134. 

“The produce these companies have been selling to the EU market was detected to have the banned chemicals. The consequences are that farmers have been banned from accessing the market,” added Dr Serem.  During a stakeholder’s forum convened at a Nairobi hotel last week, participants were told that the government will ban dimethoate from the market to safeguard local growers.

EU Market

The forum brought together government and private sector actors to tackle policy approaches to improve the export compliance of beans and peas in pods exported to the EU.

Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service Managing Director James Onsando confirmed that State agencies agreed to have dimethoate and other organophosphate chemicals banned. He said this will save the horticultural industry from further loss. “The minister is empowered by law to bar use of the chemical without consulting anyone,” said Dr Onsando.

 Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya Chief Executive Stephen Mbithi in an earlier interview stated farmers have lost about 10 per cent in terms of volume and value. Dr Mbithi said between January and June this year, about 30,000 farmers have had their produce detected with high levels of residue pesticides.

He said new controls are hurting the fresh produce business, adding that the EU market has hefty fines for any produce found to have poisonous pesticides.