Authorities have impounded 39 lorries ferrying tonnes of maize from Uganda, said to be ‘unsafe’ for human consumption.
This comes a month after the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) banned the importation of maize from Uganda and Tanzania.
The Ministry of Agriculture says that the maize had been imported by unscrupulous businessmen, who were using ungazetted routes to sneak in the consignments.
“25 lorries are being held at Busia police station while 14 are at Adungosi,” said the Ministry.
The government had issued new directives for the importation of maize from Uganda and Tanzania, which requires all maize importers will have to be registered with the government and also make open the details of their warehouses.
Also, maize imports coming in must be accompanied with a certificate of conformity on aflatoxin levels.
“While we strive to give Kenya safe food by addressing the challenge in production system, we equally expect our trading partners to trade safe maize as per the East African Community (EAC) standards,” said Agriculture Chief Administrative Secretary Lawrence Angolo.
Read: Gov’t Stops Importation Of Maize Over Aflatoxin
Traders will also be required to have a certificate of origin from the counties of produce before they get clearance at the border points.
According to Angolo, the measure are meant to ensure that maize imported into the country does not contain cancer-causing aflatoxin.
Maize imported into the country should not exceed standard aflatoxin levels, which should be a maximum of 10 parts per billion.
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