Farmers, food and feeds producers in Kenya could see a significant reduction in fees charged by various government agencies if the Foods and Feed Safety Control Coordination Bill 2023 currently before the Senate is enacted.
According to Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr Paul Ronoh Kenya’s food and feed safety is currently being handled by various agencies which has resulted into overlapping functions and duplication of roles.
As a result, farmers and producers of food and feeds are often forced to pay hefty fees which is hurting their competitiveness and compromising public health.
“Because there are different competent authorities, they could be charging different fees and sometime duplication of roles therefore the private sector and the farmers may not be getting the right services because of duplication and at the same time over taxation. So this bill will address existing gaps and remove overlaps in existing legislations and existing acts which are around 20,” said Dr Ronoh.
Speaking during the a workshop which targets to build a roadmap for strengthening the capacity in industry to improve food and feed safety in Kenya, Dr Ronoh said the bill which is currently in its second reading before the Senate is expected to streamline safety and coordinate functions of various state agencies by ensuring there are competent food and feed inspectors.
The bill if enacted will also see the establishment of the office of the food safety controller which will also coordinate national and county government food and feed safety as the country targets to enhance its agriculture trade volumes.
The bill will further expected to reduce food handling risks and ensure traceability from farm to consumption.
“From the traceability mechanism, it has been demonstrated that if we get wrong inputs into the farm, it can translate into unhealthy food in the society” he added.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through is the Food and Agriculture Export Alliance (FAEA) is targeting to build capacity of the private sector to improve their food and feed safety in production through a Ksh 64.5 million funding.
“There is a huge focus on putting the responsibility on food and feed business operators to ensure the food and feed is safe because they are the ones manufacturing, processing and making the products. So if they are responsible, we need to build their capacity to ensure they have the mechanism in place to ensure the product is safe,” said Gina Tumbarello, FAEA Executive Director.
Through the bill Kenya is also targeting to enhance its trade in food and feeds business.
