January 3, 2011
Uganda demands regular livestock inspection from Kenya
Uganda is asking Kenya to have regular livestock inspection for quality safety as part of a deal to resolve a long-running dispute between the two countries over beef trade.
Beef products from Kenya have been banned from the Ugandan market since 1997 on safety concerns because of intermittent outbreaks of diseases such as Rinderpest.
Kenya disputes the claims and accuses its biggest trade partner of engaging in unfair protectionist practices including the use of non-tariff barriers (NTBs).
A task force appointed by the Ugandan government to help remove administrative barriers to trade in the region - the National monitoring committee for NTBs - said the ban on beef from Kenya and other regional countries negated free trade principles.
"There is need for Kenya to invite Uganda to conduct a risk assessment. The Ugandan ban on beef is still operational and Kenya is not convinced about the reasons for the ban," the committee said in a submission to the East African Community (EAC) secretariat.
The EAC secretariat has indicated that the resolution of the dispute would require political goodwill, owing to pressure on the Ugandan government not to open the country's beef market to competition.
"There is pressure from businesses not to recognise products from within EAC due to fear of loss of markets," the secretariat has warned.
Past attempts to solve the problem through bilateral talks have failed with several Kenyan firms bearing the consequences.
Leading Kenyan beef processor, Farmer's Choice, was forced to set up shop in Uganda through a subsidiary known as Your Choice to avoid huge knocks to its business brought about by the ban on cross-border shipments.
Trade permanent secretary Abulrazaq Ali said early this month talks were on to resolve the issue.
"We hope both sides will come to an agreement and allow for trade," he said.
Though Uganda maintains the ban on meat imports is a direct result of disease threats, insiders said some leading political leaders and influential people with interest in meat business could have preferred protecting their market share.
Due to the ban on the import of meat and meat products, Uganda experiences intermittent shortages of supply - raising questions on the logic of the ban.
Statistics by the Uganda Bureau of Standards show by 2008 the country had a livestock population of about 12 million cattle compared to Kenya with 40 million and Tanzania's 33 million.
The bureau said that by 2008, Uganda had 12.5 million goats, 3.4 million sheep, 3.2 million pigs and poultry at 37.4 million.
