FEB-MARCH 2013 ISSUE Final.ai - Hortinews.co.ke

|| T H E K E N Y A B E A N ||
Tough call for doctors
Dr Alfred Serem, Managing
Director, HCDA
Dr. Ephraim Mukisira, KARI
Director
Dr Wilson Songa, Agriculture
Secretary
Dr James Onsando,
Managing Director, KePHIS
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ii) PCPB will register spray
teams/units upon
evidence of demonstrated
capacity to adhere to
standards.
(work on pesticide quality is
underway, and some
initial results are already
available at PCPB)
C: MRL Monitoring:
i) Fresh produce will be
randomly sampled at farm
level and at phytosanitary
inspection end-point
for pesticide maximum
residue levels tests. This
will be done in accordance
with a detailed national
MRL monitoring protocol
implemented by KePHIS
and coordinated at the
horticulture CA level.
ii) Farms and companies
having non-compliant
products will be
sanctioned with a view
to ensuring effective
corrective action has been
taken. At the moment, this
implies that if a sample is
found to be having MRL
excess either at KePHIS lab
or EU level:
a. Phytosanitary certification
is withheld to stop further
exports immediately;
b. The company clearly
details in a report
what went wrong, and
corrective actions taken
so far
c. A team comprising
KePHIS, HCDA, PCPB and
FPEAK visits the farm/
scheme of farmers to
verify the information and
compliance status;
d. Corrective actions are
given to the farm;
e. The team verifies
implementation of
corrective actions;
f. Issuance of phyto, hence
export resumes.
This whole process takes
a maximum 10 days,
depending on how fast
the company implements
corrective actions.
D) Increased emphasis on
IPM:
i) In addition to GAP on
conventional practices,
the CA is advising farmers
against use of chemical
pesticides post flowering,
but rather to use biological
and other integrated crop
management measures
ii)
on pests. This is because
considering the routine
harvesting of vegetables
(daily in case of green
beans), it is unlikely that
pre-harvest intervals for
most pesticides will be
practical post-flowering.
There are several
biological control agents
registered in Kenya and
the EU.
KARI will carry out more
trials on these novel
biological agents and
methods to provide
farmers with more
alternatives to pesticides.
A national protocol that
details how periodically
a fresh produce pest-list
is updated, periodicity
of efficacy trials on
conventional and
biological pest control
agents and systems of
early warning will be
developed by KARI and
coordinated centrally
through the CA system.
Kenya will notify the EU on:
a) Protocols being implemented
nationally to address the
MRL issue; and
b) Actual data being generated
periodically as a result
of implementation of
the protocols. This will
provide evidence that the
systems being proposed
are actually implemented
and working.
The idea is to minimise the
necessity of lab checks as a
means of checking if fresh
produce is safe, but ensuring
that there is a system at farm
level that ensures farmers do
the right things. This should
be documented at farm level
in a way that is traceable
throughout the chain. Such
a system will give the EU the
guarantees needed to stop
10 per cent tests on Kenyan
produce.
We thank all exporters
for cooperating with these
measures. We also thank
our development partners,
particularly TMEA and USAID
through KHCP, for the assistance
currently extended to help
address this challenge.
Dr Stephen Mbithi, is the
Chief Executive Officer
Fresh Produce Exporters
Association of Kenya.
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HORTICULTURAL NEWS I FEB / MAR 2013