Cane growers want the government to regulate sugar imports to protect the sector.
The farmers said there are plans to import 57,473 tonnes of sugar to cover the deficit in the country.
“This move to import the sweetener is a scheme to illegally bring in sugar into the country,” Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (Kesga) secretary general Richard Ogendo said.
“We want to call on the Kenya Revenue Authority to ensure that any entity importing sugar into the country is charged applicable import duty as a way of cushioning cane farmers from the cheap imports.”
Charles Atyang' of the Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Products (Kasap) called on the Ministry of Agriculture to make public the list of sugar importers to ensure transparency.
KRA in a memo dated December 24 notified staff members on the exhaustion of allocated quotas under Comesa safeguards for 2020 as at October 31, 2020.
However, a review of adapted 41st Comesa Council report dated November 26, 2021, showed that the quota safeguard covers March 1 to February 28, 2021
In the memo, analysis of sugar imports from March 1, 2020 to October 2020 indicated that only 192,527 tonnes of the allocated quota of 250,000 tonnes were imported.
“Consequently, there is a balance of 57,473 tonnes of sugar to be cleared under Comesa framework for the remaining period until February 2021,” the notice by acting Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Pamela Ahago said.
