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FVO inspection of Kenyan competent authority

07 June 2010

An EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report on the plant health control and certification systems in place in Kenya has been posted. The report maintains that while the system of export controls has been significantly improved since the last FVO mission in 2007 the majority of recommendations made at that time have still not been fully implemented. Further improvements are thus held to be necessary, with a number of recommendations made in this regard. These primarily relate to:

  • improving sample inspections on low risk products;
  • increasing the frequency of inland inspections;
  • ensuring that the additional declarations required on each phytosanitary certificate are complied with;
  • the conduct of additional target plant surveys aimed at particular types of plant infections;
  • improving the equipment available to inspectors for visual examination during pre-export examinations.

Overall the level of training of staff in the competent authority, the collaboration with stakeholders and the combination of complementary inland and pre-export inspections were held to be adequate if the areas for improvement were addressed.

Editorial comment

The competent authority in Kenya appears to be well placed to sustain access to the EU market in the face of the pending stricter application of food safety and SPS controls. Nevertheless the report highlights the ongoing nature of the compliance and certification challenges faced by ACP countries and exporters. The trade consequences which can follow from the more rigorous application of existing standards are vividly illustrated by the Brazilian beef experience. Here the stricter application of EU hygiene rules (notably on traceability and controls on the farm approval system) saw Brazilian beef exports to the EU decline by 59.1% between 2007 and 2009.

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