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Kenya: EC criticises bid to lock out country's farm produce
Kenya
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Kenyan fresh produce exporters have received a crucial backing in their battle against United Kingdom's retailers and environmental pressure groups over recently introduced concepts against climate change.
The two sides have been engaged in a lengthy tussle over the newly formulated "food miles" and "carbon foot print" concepts whose proponents in Europe claim would address threats on environmental degradations by locking out imports from far flung sources.
They argued that aeroplanes that make these shipments are top polluters and responsible for unfavourable climate change.
But now the European Commission (EC) is urging caution on the matter, saying it could sour trade relations between the two blocs.
"The concept of food miles, based solely on the distance food travels from producer to consumer or on a mode of transport, seems to be too simplistic.
If the objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it would be better to measure the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted, from farm to fork, including through transport," Harvey Rouse, head of political and trade section of the European Commission in Kenya told Business Daily.
The remarks came as a delegation of fresh produce exporters from Kenya, led by Dr Stephen Mbithi and Mrs Jane Ngige intensified their campaigns in the UK to counter the effects of the new concepts that are likely to eat into their market share.
Several retailers in the UK have already adopted special food mile aeroplane stickers which appear on their shop shelves indicating how far the products on display have come from.
The two sides have been engaged in a lengthy tussle over the newly formulated "food miles" and "carbon foot print" concepts whose proponents in Europe claim would address threats on environmental degradations by locking out imports from far flung sources.
They argued that aeroplanes that make these shipments are top polluters and responsible for unfavourable climate change.
But now the European Commission (EC) is urging caution on the matter, saying it could sour trade relations between the two blocs.
"The concept of food miles, based solely on the distance food travels from producer to consumer or on a mode of transport, seems to be too simplistic.
If the objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it would be better to measure the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted, from farm to fork, including through transport," Harvey Rouse, head of political and trade section of the European Commission in Kenya told Business Daily.
The remarks came as a delegation of fresh produce exporters from Kenya, led by Dr Stephen Mbithi and Mrs Jane Ngige intensified their campaigns in the UK to counter the effects of the new concepts that are likely to eat into their market share.
Several retailers in the UK have already adopted special food mile aeroplane stickers which appear on their shop shelves indicating how far the products on display have come from.
