In May 2015, Kenya initiated a bilateral agreement to ease access to the South Korean market for various products from Kenya, a move that saw the country allowed to export unripe banana and broccoli, which would not require pest risk analysis as is the case with other products.
But five years after Kenya and South Korea struck a bilateral deal for supplies to South Korea. Kenyan farmers have exported less than a ton of bananas and broccoli to the Asian country. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) has attributed the low volumes to lack of grower awareness.
Earlier this week, Kephis urged interested groups and individuals to register with Horticulture Crops Directorate as an exporter for horticultural products. “Kephis therefore wishes to encourage the youth, women and farmers to increase volumes of unripe banana and broccoli to South Korea as the market for these commodities is open,” the agency said.
The Ministry of Trade last week raised concern over low export of green bananas and broccoli to the Korean market despite a ready market. The export of the two products will not undergo pest risk analysis and would only need a phytosanitary certificate from the regulator.
“The client should register with Kephis by submitting statutory documents to be issued with credentials for accessing the Electronic Certification System in order to make electronic applications for inspection and issuance of phytosanitary certificates,” the regulatory body added.
Source: businessdailyafrica.com