The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) announced that dried chillies from Kenya have been cleared for export to China, subject to the latter’s phytosanitary, food safety and quality requirements.
Exporters will need to obtain a phytosanitary certificate for each shipment, register farms, processing plants and packing houses with KEPHIS, and also register export processing and packing facilities with Chinese customs authorities.
Kenya must also meet China’s food safety rules covering pesticide residues, aflatoxin B1, heavy metals, salmonella, and specified quarantine pests and diseases, while dried chillies must contain no more than 13 per cent moisture and comply with Chinese packaging and labelling standards.
The approval follows China’s expanded zero-tariff policy that took effect on May 1 and applies to all 53 African countries with diplomatic relations with Beijing, a move Kenya hopes will diversify its agricultural exports.
Judy Towett, a farmer from the Kerio Valley, welcomed the market opening but urged greater government support to help growers meet export standards and connect with buyers, saying “Let’s get into production, let’s grow with the right knowledge, meet export standards and turn this opportunity into actual shipments.”
Kenya already ships agricultural products such as avocados to China, a commodity the Chinese Foreign Ministry cited in May as benefiting from the zero-tariff arrangement.
The chilli deal could stimulate investment in drying, processing and packaging, enabling Kenyan producers to add value locally before shipping to China.
A Kenyan delegation led by Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Lee Kinyanjui visited Beijing last month and, at the Kenya-China Investor Roundtable, said Kenya seeks investment that will establish industries and create jobs rather than merely expand trade in finished goods.
