Lobby: Kenyan beans face ban in Asia
By Nicholas Waitathu, October 7, 2020
Kenya could lose key export destinations in Asia due to alleged chemical contamination to its beans, a farmer lobby claims.
Kenya Coffee Producers Association (KCPA) yesterday warned that Kenya coffee has been denied entry into key Asian markets – Japan and Korea markets as the commodity has been identified with maximum residual levels and Ochratoxin (OTA).
Chairman Peter Gikonyo said the presence of the chemicals in the beans, according to the Asian countries is a major cause of concern and a big threat to the food industry.
Leading segments
He said the two markets are the leading segments on the Asia continent and further forms a huge percentage of the emerging markets in the world which has a lot of appetite for Kenya coffee.
“In the last one year, Kenya coffee has been subjected to a lot of checks both at the points of origin and entry. We have had five instances of rejection of clean coffee from Kenya,” added Gikonyo while addressing the media yesterday.
The incidences, he said, has led to flagging of Kenyan coffee entering the Japanese market for the next three years from 2019 which could result in a total burn of Kenya coffee in other regions if more possible cases are registered.