This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 30, 2020, the government announced plans to invoke the Kenya Trade Remedies Agency Act (KETRA) to ban the import of milk and eggs, in a bid to benefit dairy and poultry farmers.
The move aims to address the concerns of local farmers, who have been struggling to compete with cheap imports. According to Trade and Enterprise Development Principal Secretary Amb. Johnson Weru, the government is concerned about the impact of imported products such as milk and eggs on local markets.
Weru stated that the Ministry's Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina is set to release a gazette notice to prevent the import of the products, adding that it is not right for the country to continue allowing the imports of products that are causing injuries to the economy.
Local dairy and poultry farmers have been calling for the ban of importation of powdered milk and raw milk into the country, in a move to protect the local industries from cheap imports which have been diluting the market.
According to reports, in 2018, the country imported 70 million litres of liquid milk and 10 million Kilogrammes of powdered milk. In January 2019, the ministry imported 15 million litres of liquid milk and 1.5 million Kilogrammes of powdered milk, despite the country's high production potential.
