AFA begins the process to clear Tanzania maize stuck at border

Agriculture ministry moved yesterday to fast-track resumption of maize trade with Tanzania following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that it clears the stocks that have been blocked at the borders.

He ordered Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya to ensure stocks of maize that have been lying at the border are cleared within two weeks.

“On the maize that is stuck at the border I have given you (CS Agriculture) two weeks to ensure that the stock is cleared.

There is no need to subject the traders and other value chains to a lot of struggle,” the Head of State said.

The President spoke during a joint session of Kenya and Tanzanian business community in Nairobi on Wednesday, The meeting was also attended by Tanzania President Suluhu Hassan.

Speaking to Business Hub, Acting  Agricultural Food Authority (AFA) director general Kello Harsama said they have already started implementing the directive. 

Namanga border

“Indeed, senior AFA officers are already at Namanga border point working on the directive logistics. Soon maize trade between the two countries will resume,” he said on phone.

Earlier, the agency issued the procedure for clearing maize consignments at the border points.

It said following the presidential directive of clearing maize stocks at the Tanzanian border points within two weeks a number of steps would need to be implemented in order to fast-track the process.

Among these are that all importers to be registered through the AFA IMIS system and present a copy of the certificate of registration to the inspector at the border point. 

Upon successful application, the importer shall be issued with a registration certificate online within the same day of application. 

Importer are required to present the following documents to the inspector at the border point for verification namely Certificate of registration and C2/C11.

These are documents currently used at the border points and contain the consignment details.

Also required are Certificate of Conformity from a competent Authority in the exporting country.

This is evidence of the safety of the consignments and the produce will not be subjected to any further analysis. However, a sample may be taken randomly for confirmatory tests.