CMA heads for fresh clash with CS Munya over coffee trading
By Nicholas Waitathu, June 28, 2021
LICENCES: The battle for supremacy between Ministry of Agriculture and Capital Markets Authority (CMA) over marketing of coffee is likely to deepen with the latter issuing a notice last week extending current trading licences for three months.
Wycliffe Shamiah, CMA chief executive warned in a notice issued on Friday and addressed to coffee farmers, millers, marketers and traders that the coffee trading licences will not be extended further after the expiry of the three months period.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has been dismissing new regulations which gives CMA a role in coffee marketing, saying the latter’s work is to regulate securities and thus should desist from interfering with coffee.
“Globally agriculture commodities are not regulated by the stock markets regulator as the same is likely to lock out the majority of the players,” he said Munya in a past interview.
The three-month extension of the coffee trading licences confirmed delay in establishment of key governance structures such as Direct Settlement System (DSS), Nairobi Coffee Exchange board and selection of a DSS provider.
Starting July 1, coffee marketing will be supervised by CMA under the Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange), Regulations 2020.
Under the regulations, the role of coffee marketing agents ends on June 30 and usher in coffee brokers as the new value chains.
After the expiry of the licences last year Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya extended the permits to allow stability in the market in addition to establishment of necessary trading systems.
Friday notice
In the Friday notice, Shamiah explained that regulations ought to have been implemented as from July 1, 2020.
“In light of the above and the approaching deadline of June 30, 2021, please note that a marketing agent who had been licensed under the previous regime but has not submitted its application for licensing and intending to continue trading is hereby given three months from the June 30, 2021 to fully comply with the coffee regulations and submit the necessary application to the authority for consideration,” said Shamiah.