Uganda terms Kenya’s levy on eggs bad policy
Ugandan traders exporting eggs into Kenya are protesting a move by Nairobi to slap levies on the products.
According to Uganda, Kenya is now taxing its eggs at a rate of Ksh72 ($0.6) per tray, a move that brings back a charge that was frozen in December 2021 following trade talks between the two countries.
“The implementation of levies on Ugandan eggs by Kenya is a bad policy and in violation of the East African Community policy of free movement of goods and services originating from the member states,” Godfrey Oundo Ogwabe, the chairperson Uganda National Cross-Border Trade told the Daily Monitor.
The policy shift is likely to go a long way in souring trade ties between the two countries that have been championing for the free movement of goods and labour under the East African Community market protocols.
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In November last year, Uganda’s Cabinet tasked the Ministry of Agriculture to single out imports from Kenya that would be frozen ‘in a short notice,” as a response to Kenya’s move to bar the country’s agricultural products.
Besides eggs, the two countries find themselves entangled in back and forths regarding trade in maize, milk, and milk products.
Currently, there is an ongoing dispute on the treatment of milk imports since Kenya barred Ugandan exports in 2019.
“I do not have specific information on the tax but this could be the normal levy that the Kenya Revenue Authority imposes on imports,” said Livestock Permanent Secretary Harry Kimtai.
