Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), Executive Director, David Livingstone Ebiru, has confirmed that four out of eight maize grain consignments, which was destined to South Sudan tested positive with the highest level of Aflatoxins, which renders the foodstuffs dangerous for human consumption, as Aflatoxins are regarded one of the causes of cancer. Mr. Ebiru also reported that one out of twelve consignments of maize flour failed the Aflatoxin test.
Mr. Ebiru made the revelation while accompanying the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Harriet Ntabazi to address Journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Friday.
Mr. Ebiru waived fears among Ugandan cereals exporters by saying over 90 percent of Ugandan cereals exports to South Sudan were free from Aflatoxins. He said all two consignments of beans, three consignments of sorghum and one consignment of millet passed the Aflatoxin test.
“A total of 22 food consignments destined to South Sudan passed the aflatoxin test, while five consignments only failed,” he said.
Asked by journalists on how the foodstuffs that failed the Aflatoxin test found their way into South Sudan, without the knowledge of UNBS, Mr. Ebiru said the food consignments were not tested and approved by UNBS and were smuggled into South Sudan. He said UNBS is to seize and destroy all foodstuffs that failed the Aflatoxin test. He said so far, UNBS has carried out aflatoxin tests on 23 trucks returned to Uganda from South Sudan at Elegu Border.
Minister Ntabazi called for strict adherence to respecting quality and standards, in as far as food exports are concerned. She said poor post-harvest and storage of cereals is still a big challenge to Ugandan farmers, saying the Government is in partnership with stakeholders and is in the process of equipping farmers with modern cereals storage facilities countrywide. She advised food traders in cross border business to endeavor to obtain certificate of origin of their export food products, to avoid counterfeit food products from finding their way into the East Africa Community (EAC) large market.
She also said farmers should desist from selling off their maize and other cereals to traders while the crops are still on the farm, saying this is cheating on farmers by traders who buy their food produce cheaply.
“We should add value to our maize products and other cereals before putting them on market to gain profit,” she said.
The media conference was attended by representatives from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Grain Farmers Council and the Private Sector Foundation among others.
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