Principal Secretaries Alfred K’Ombudo (Trade) and Patrick Kilemi (Cooperatives ) on Wednesday held talks with members from the East Africa Tea Traders Association. The meeting was aimed at reviewing progress and addressing challenges in the tea sector. They also discussed how to design strategies for advancing tea exports.
"The meeting identified the ongoing global dollar crunch experienced by most exporters, high taxation on the packaging and some 'incoherent' policies that have negatively impacted trade in the commodity," the State Department of Trade said. Kenya is the world's leading tea exporter, with a 95 per cent rate. The PSs pledged to work closely with other government agencies to address the issues raised. They encouraged the EATTA to work on the value addition of tea, expansion of the export market to curb over-reliance on traditional markets and inclusion of MSMEs as part of solutions. The sector stakeholders are committed to expanding the export market and increasing tea production locally. Pakistan and Egypt are currently the largest importers of Kenyan tea.
Source: The Star
