By Bisola Adeyemo
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), the country’s plant health regulatory agency, has stepped up on field audits and facility measures for avocado growers and exporters to ensure compliance with the Chinese plant health standards.
KEPHIS who announced this on Tuesday in a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, said it will also ensure compliance with mandatory fumigation with methyl bromide and temperature control of all shipments departing Kenya for China.
KEPHIS general manager, Isaac Macharia, who is in charge of Phytosanitary Services, said the agency aims to support the export of fresh fruits to China once the local Hass avocado harvest season opens next month.
“The next step for us now is to share the list with our counterparts in China for final registration. We are committed to facilitating trade by enforcing world-class phytosanitary and related plant health regulatory standards,” he said.
Macharia also said the plant health regulatory agency has initiated registration and inspection where several avocado growers have been audited, including listed agro-business firm Kakuzi Plc, their orchards and pack houses.
The export of fresh avocados to China follows the early January signing of two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade, mainly the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China.
KEPHIS has been undertaking facility audits to ensure the integrity of local packhouses earmarked to provide packaging solutions for avocado exports as part of the implementation of the protocols.
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