Minister Kyambadde meets striking traders

Jun 27, 2013

A traders’ strike enters day three as trader minister, Amelia Kyambadde, convenes a meeting at Christ the King hall to discuss a way forward.

By Vision Reporter

A traders’ strike enters day three as trader minister, Amelia Kyambadde, convenes a meeting at Christ the King hall to discuss a way forward.


She has appealed to traders in Kampala to re-open their shops but traders Wednesday resolved to keep their shops closed until next week. Security however remains tight in the city centre.

Kyambadde briefed Parliament on the stand- off between the government and the business community over the implementation of Pre-Import Verification of Conformity Standards (PVOC).

The minister acknowledged that the new scheme would require traders to pay charges for verification of imported goods from abroad. She promised that the charges would be reviewed following complaints by traders. Kyambadde also admitted that the scheme was introduced without adequate sensitization of traders which she vowed to undertake.

"The objective of the scheme is to protect Ugandans from substandard goods. I feel the charges could be high. The ministry is committed to dialogue with traders to review the charges," she said. She said the charges should be borne by consumers not traders.

The minister pledged to make a review of the scheme very three months to resolve any sticky issues. She noted that the service providers contracted by government have a three year contract after which the verification would be taken over by UNBS.

She said three companies Societe Generale De Surveillance (SGS), Bureau Veritas and Intertek International Ltd (INTERTEK) were contracted by government to inspect goods abroad before they were shipped to Uganda.

"In May 2012 there was a renegotiation with the service providers to reduce inspection fees from the maximum one from US$7000 to US$2,375 for a 40 feet container and the minimum one from US$ 250 to US$235 for a 20 feet container," she said. She said KACITA asked for the charges to come down further.

She added that for used motor vehicles four companies located in Japan and United Arab Emirates were contracted to inspect vehicles.

MPs said traders were not opposed to the scheme but what they against were the high charges and unfair penalties. The MPs expressed sympathy for the traders whose shops remained closed and asked the minister to do something about it to avoid the traders making further losses.

James Kakooza (NRM) said it was not sustainable to continue giving foreign companies money to do verification instead of empowering Ugandans to do the work.

Sanjay Tanna (Independent) said UNBS should develop guidelines for foreign manufactures for goods to make that come to Uganda. He said such guidelines would include instructions written in English on how to use products and services.

He cautioned that foreign companies hired to do pre-export verification can fear to reject certain goods for fear of legal suits.

Margaret Kiboijana (NRM) said traders in Uganda were at the mercy of landlords because of high cost of rent. "Traders experience high cost of borrowing, many shopping arcades are empty due to high cost of rent. Many traders suffer from high cost of borrowing money from banks. So Ugandan traders are not like those from Kenya and Tanzania," Kiboijana said.

 

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