The Government of Uganda has slammed Kenya for frustrating eport of powdered milk.
Samson Akankiza, the Executive Director of Dairy Development Authority (DDA), accused Kenyan authorities for reducing the issuance of permits to only powdered milk by about 20%.
“I don’t have figures off-head but the reduction is about 20 percent. Other products are getting permits except milk powder but the market is still open and Uganda milk players are exporting products there,” Akankiza was quoted by a local daily.
“But like the market, that is what they are using to protect their local industries. The official position is that the ban was lifted and now we are seeing reduction in volumes of milk powder being exported there,” he added.
Akankiza’z confirmation followed a complaint by Benson Mwangi, the General Manager of Brookside Limited, who said their milk is being denied export permits by the Kenya Diary Authority (KDA), and even those that get are delayed.
“Effective March 19, 2023, the Kenyan government through Kenya Dairy Board stopped issuing permits for our dairy products in the Kentrade system, affecting our factory output significantly,” the letter reads in part.
This follows Harry Kimtai, the Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, on March 14, 2023, announced the suspension of the ban on the milk powder imports from Uganda.
“Take note that the importation of products under the East African Community (EAC) protocol refers to goods being imported from outside the East African Community, while goods traded within the EAC are referred to as transfers,” Kimtai said.
Mwangi said they continue to grapple with non-issuance and sometimes delays of issuance of export permits by the Kenya Dairy Board.
Brookside is among the leading milk producers and exporters in Uganda alongside; Pearl Dairies, Jesa Farm Dairy, Amos Dairies Uganda Limited, Paramount Dairies Limited, GBK Dairy Products Limited and Lakeside Dairy Limited among others
Between June 15 and 18, three major milk players; Amos Diaries, Pearl Diaries and Brookside will sign further agreements with their Algerian counterparts, to operationalise Uganda’s exporting of powdered milk to Algeria.
“The Algerian business community will be in Uganda to conclude the remaining logistics and prices. They will sign deals with major processers, including Amos, Pearl and Brookside, because they are currently the ones with capacity to produce powdered milk while others are still building capacity,” he said.
The delegation’s visit follows President Museveni’s earlier visit to Algeria in March where he signed a memorandum of understanding with his Algerian counterpart.