Nairobi — A much-anticipated meeting between Kenya and Uganda over their longstanding chicks-bull semen trade row ended on a frustrating note last week, as both countries appeared to stick to their hardline positions.

Although the language sounded softer at the end of the day, after two days of intense negotiations in the Ugandan capital, Nairobi and Kampala had failed to unconditionally lift their bans on the importation of poultry and animal products from the other country.

Kenya now maintains that Ugandan firms will only be allowed to export day-old chicks and chicken products to Kenya on condition that they are sold through agents in the latter country, who would conduct risk assessments on the imports.

Kampala, on the other hand, says their Nairobi counterparts must first submit a risk assessment report before an 11-year old ban on importation of beef, bull semen and other associated products from Kenya is lifted.

The positions contradict an earlier stand taken by officials from the two countries on the sidelines of a World Organisation for Animal Health general session in May, where they called a truce and agreed in principle to lift the bans unconditionally.

The stalemate is likely to further hit the two countries' long-suffering poultry sectors, especially their leading firms -- Ugachick and Kenchick respectively.

Ugachick sales and marketing manager Immaculate Nabatte said the company was losing up to $200,000 per month as a result of the stalemate.

Kenchic is the region's largest integrated poultry business, and recently became the first company in East Africa to achieve the so-called farm-to-fork standard.

The standard means that all products sold by the firm such as eggs and chicken meats can be traced back to the specific farms of origin.

Ugandan trade officials argued at the end of the talks that Kenchick has always had free access to the Uganda market.

Said one: "There hasn't been a ban [on Kenchic products]. The Cabinet issued a certificate of clearance some time ago."

But Kenya's ambassador to Uganda, Japheth Getugi, who led his country's delegation, contended that products from all poultry firms from Kenya had been denied access by Kampala.

He said Kampala had informed them that the ban on Farmer's Choice also applied to Kenchic.

Kenyan leading beef-processing firm, Farmer's Choice, was the first to suffer as a result of the ban on importation of beef and associated products into Uganda in 1997 -- although it later circumvented the ban by constructing a subsidiary in Kampala that trades as Your Choice.

Kampala says it banned importation of meat and meat products in the wake of the Mad Cow Disease that originated from Europe and that the ban targeted all countries.

Kenyan industry players however blame their Ugandan counterparts for "politicising" the issue of cross-border trade in poultry and other meats.

"The main problem with Ugandan players is that when they are audited by Kenyan veterinary and health authorities and advised of measures to take to become compliant, they see this as sort of a non-tarriff barrier," a top manager at a leading Kenyan meat firm told The EastAfrican.

According to the official, the way forward is for players from both sides to develop internationally-acceptable guidelines on bio-security, vaccination and traceability, so that neither of the two sides feels disadvantaged.

"What we all need to understand is that the East African Community set-up does not abrogate the need to maintain international standards in food safety and trade in animal products," said the manager, who requested anonymity, adding, "This is particularly important in this era of bird-flu, which can decimate a country's entire poultry industry."

Kampala notes in the bilateral agreement with Nairobi that Ugandan exporters have been denied access to the Kenyan market as Nairobi has delayed submitting the risk assessment report based upon an evaluation reportedly carried out in November last year by the Kenya Veterinary Services on Ugachick and Biyinzika farms.

But Kenya said the hitch resulted from the interruptions caused by the pot-election violence in the beginning of the year.

The Kenyans said they had lifted the ban on the import of day-old chicks from Uganda and urged Ugachick to resume exports to Kenya but indicated that this could only be implemented if agents in Kenya were appointed.

However, Aga Sekalala, proprietor of Ugachick, told The EastAfrican that Kenya had previously stated a similar position but denied them the market in practice.

"After you have applied, they tell you to come back for the permit, which they do not issue. They instead keeping putting you off," the Ugandan exporter said.

Uganda had also complained of delays in acquiring transit permits for day-old chicks destined for Burundi and Rwanda through Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

They claim that the process takes a minimum of two weeks, which forced Ugandan exporters to transit through Rwanda.

Kenya has, however, reassured Uganda that it will in future expedite the processing of permits. It has also promised to study Uganda's request to be granted long- standing transit rights. However, Ugandan exporters must provide prior notification.

Uganda says it will progressively review the ban on Farmer's Choice on a product-by-product basis, and that it will form a technical committee to advise on the review.

The two negotiating teams will submit the agreement to both Cabinets, and it is then that a long-term decision by Uganda on Kenya's imports is expected to be taken.

"Uganda's ban followed the BSE scare, and the situation is still being studied to ensure safety and traceability," the Uganda delegation submitted.

They said there was importation of beef breeding stock in the form of Boran and Sahiwal bulls and semen from Kenya.

Basing on the latest information, the semen does not pose a risk of spreading BSE and the ban has been reviewed, so that Kenya is free to export semen to Uganda, the Uganda team announced.

On meat, the Ugandans said there was still a problem with regard to its traceability and origin.

They advised Kenya to constitute a technical committee to work out modalities on assurance of safety of the meat based on the origin of the animals so that the ban can be lifted.

According to the agreement, Farmer's Choice was directed to make a fresh application for the review of the ban, notwithstanding the 1997 Uganda technical assessment, and the 2004 follow up ministerial tour of the company in Nairobi.

The agreement also provides that the sector authorities from the two neighbouring countries meet every six months to resolve other outstanding issues.

To test the waters of the now supposedly improved trading environment, Ugachick says it will this week apply to transit a container of chicks worth $3,000 to Tanzania.

Uganda's Trade Minister of State Gagawala Wambuzi said the situation would eventually cool off as the two countries were keen to trade, despite the present hiccups.

He said: "Kenyans and Ugandans are partners. They would like all companies to sell in East Africa."