Government refutes reports that Kenya cut Uganda's sugar export quota by 79%
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operatives has refuted media reports that Kenya has cut Uganda's sugar export quota.
The reports indicated that Kenya has cut Uganda's sugar export quota by 79%, from 90,000 tonnes annually to 18,923 tonnes.
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The ministry’s permanent secretary Geraldine Ssali said Uganda's sugar export to Kenya is governed by two regimes: COMESA Kenya sugar safeguard and the EAC/bilateral trade regimes.
Following the April 2021 Uganda-Kenya bilateral ministerial meeting, Ssali said Uganda's annual sugar export quota to Kenya was increased from 55,000 tonnes to 90,000 tonnes consisting of both the COMESA Kenya sugar Safeguard and the bilateral quotas.
Under the COMESA Kenya sugar safeguard, the quota available to all COMESA sugar exporting countries, including Uganda, is calculated using a formula adopted by the COMESA council of ministers.
Ssali explained that the formula assigns a weight of 30% to 'Intra-COMESA sugar trade' and 70% to surplus sugar for each respective country, applied in context of the projected Kenya sugar deficit.
"The data used in application of the formula is from internationally accredited sources, notably the International Sugar Organization (ISO) and the COMESA.The sugar export quota available to Uganda in 2021 under the COMESA Kenya sugar safeguard window is 18,923.63 tonnes. The balance of the 90,000 tonnes annual quota (i.e. 71,076.37 tonnes) is catered for under the EAC/Bilateral window," she said.
