Joseph Mwamunyange
9 August 2008
Nairobi — Kenya may be forced to review its authorisation system for milk imports to avoid retaliation by Tanzania in a simmering dairy war.
Tanzania milk processors are up in arms over what they say are excessive restrictions imposed by authorities on milk exports to Kenya.
Kenya maintains a complex imports-regulation regime for animal products that has had the effect of locking out dairy imports from Tanzania and Uganda -- thereby defeating the spirit of the East African Customs Union.
For instance, in order to obtain entry for their products, milk exporters from Tanzania and Uganda must have certificates proving that these products have been processed at an establishment under constant supervision by the Veterinary Department.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the veterinary standards that import authorities in Kenya insist on are not public nor are they shared by veterinary authorities in the region.
Worse still, there are just too many institutions involved in authorising dairy imports.
For instance, Tanzanian milk processors complain that they have to deal with no less than four branches of officialdom -- the Kenya Dairy Board, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Veterinary Department and the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Speaking to The EastAfrican from Dodoma, Tanzania's Minister for East African Co-operation, Dr Diodorus Kamala, said he would raise the concerns of the country's milk processors at this week's Council of Ministers meeting at the East African Community headquarters in Arusha.
Dr Kamala charged that the import restrictions were contrary to what EAC member states had agreed on milk exports from Tanzania and Uganda to Kenya when negotiating the Customs Union.
The milk war started last month when the lake zone-based milk processor Musoma Dairy Ltd complained that its exports had been denied entry into Kenya by the Kenya Revenue Authority on the grounds that the milk did not qualify under the Customs Union's rules of origin.
Musoma Dairy charged that KRA had insisted on charging 60 per cent duty on the products.
Under the Custom Union's Common External Tariff (CET), imports into the Customs Union attract a duty of 60 per cent.
Last week, the firm's managing director, Dr Gideon Mazara, told The EastAfrican from Musoma in Mara Region that his company had secured a contract to export 100,000 litres of UHT milk to Kenya but on entering Kenya, the products were blocked at the Kabete laboratories in Nairobi.
Dr Mazara said that the import authorities had demanded that the company obtain an export permit from the Kenya Dairy Board which asked it to pay $77 for the same.
In the end, the board allowed the firm to export only 10,000 litres instead of 30,000 litres.
"Nonetheless, even when this figure was scaled down to 10,000 litres, it was then still subjected to 60 per cent duty," he said, adding that Tanzania should also take measures to impose a 60 per cent duty on milk products from Kenya that enter the country's market.
According to Dr Mazara, the firm is paying the Kenya Dairy Board $77 whenever it exports its milk to Kenya.
He added that the firm's refrigerated truck has a capacity to carry 30,000 litres and allowing it to carry only 10,000 litres means that the remaining capacity on the vehicle goes unutilised.
The Musoma Dairy plant recently underwent a $4.6 million rehabilitation, which has enabled it to start manufacturing UHT milk, some of which it exports to neighbouring Kenya.
Apart from taking samples to the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the firm is in addition forced to apply to the Kenya Dairy Board for permission for every export consignment it send across the border.
The East African Community's Director General for Customs and Trade, Peter Kiguta, told The EastAfrican that the main problem has to do with national legislation and outmoded import authorisation systems.
He suggested that import authorisation systems that are not intended for enforcing sanitary and food safety standards should be abolished.
According to Mr Kiguta, it was unfortunate that the milk was being subjected to a 60 per cent duty when this shouldn't be the case, and urged member states to avoid as much as possible using these licensing issues to frustrate cross-border trade.
"I agree with the minister [Dr Kamala] that the milk shouldn't attract 60 per cent duty under the CET," he added.He also called for a system of harmonising animal diseases and public health attestation requirements in the region.
Tanzania's dairy industry is still in its infancy. Over the past two decades, total production has increased at the rate of 2.8 per cent per annum largely due to increases in the cattle population rather than increases in productivity.
The supply of milk and milk products is inadequate to meet demand, particularly in the major urban areas.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The East African. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
