Linturi defends tax waiver on maize, rice and sugar imports
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has said the government issued tax waivers on importation of 1.4 million metric tonnes of maize, 1.1 million metric tonnes of rice and 280,000 metric tonnes of sugar.
Mr Linturi appearing before the Senate plenary on Wednesday noted that as per June 16, 68 companies had imported 520,426 metric tonnes of white milled rice, while 13 companies had imported 234,981 metric tonnes of white maize.
The CS told the House that his ministry officials met with pre-qualified importers of maize and rice on April 25 to review and get an update on status of importation of the commodities where they raised challenges facing them.
“The challenges faced by importers during importation included appreciation of the dollar against Kenyan shilling, high international prices and off-taker guarantees required by banks to issue letters of credit,” he said.
He said it was resolved during the meeting that importers unable to provide evidence of importation process such as bills of landing, surrender their import allocation and their permits were to be terminated.
