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{
    "id": 86559,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/86559/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 381,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kosgei",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13,
        "legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
        "slug": "lucas-chepkitony"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Tea (Amendment) Bill (No.12) be read a second time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the objectives and purpose of the Tea (Amendment) Bill (2010) is to seek amendments to the Tea Act, Cap.343 to introduce necessary reform in the tea sub-sector to harmonise the Act with the current policy changes in order to create a vibrant and competitive and prosperous tea industry. The legal and institutional constraints that necessitate the review of the existing regulatory framework are as follows: One is the institutional mandate, size and composition of the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK). The new functions for the Board include regulating all aspects of the tea trade, registration of persons dealing in tea, promoting tea in the domestic and external market, issuing and reviewing of licenses and registration certificates under the Act and taking necessary measures to ensure compliance to the Tea Act. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the current Act does not give the Board explicit mandate to regulate tea trade matters nor the promotion of tea in the domestic and external market. The amendment will reduce the membership of the Tea Board from the current 16 members to 11 members in line with the State Corporations Act, Cap.343. The change in composition of the Board will provide for a balance of stakeholders interest and spins mix needed to strengthen the Board’s regulatory mandate. The second is the promotion and regulation of tea trade. There is no clear provision under the current Tea Act to enable TBK to regulate tea leading to unfair trade practices. These practices include poaching of tea which is pre-financed by different factories and companies thus jeopardizing future financing of tea growing for the benefit of farmers. The amendment Act provides for regulation of green tea leaf supply and creates an offence for non-compliance as a deterrent measure. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the current Tea Act provides for only one time licensing of factories and there are no provisions for registration of persons dealing in tea trade and sanctions for non-compliance. The Amendment Act will require that any persons dealing in tea register annually and have renewal from the Board. This will ensure that the Board has the information and dates it requires to regulate the industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to regulate the funding for the development of the industry. Currently, the activities are underfunded and, therefore, we need to bring it in line with institutions like tourism and horticulture. That is because although we produce a lot of tea, our marketing is poor and we need to improve that around the world and here at home. We also seek to amend the Act to provide for a value based financing system from volume based model for Tea Board by removing the manufacture sales as the source of funds and introducing an ad valorem levy on all tea to be charged at the point of export. The amendment will increase the financial resource to the Board and the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) so as to enhance capacity to promote tea and implement value-addition. The conversion of the current cess charged on all manufactured tea will have the following consequences:- Widening the funding base for the tea industry regulation and research, thus reducing dependence on the Exchequer. It will also broaden responsibility of funding to the tea industry and, therefore, also to the producers. It will base taxation on tea value rather than volume thus making taxation sensitive to price fluctuations and protection of the industry. This is a far reaching amendment to the tea industry which has been almost at a standstill for very many years. It is what the farmers of smallholder tea are requesting. We, therefore, seek the support of the House to improve on this sector to move it forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to move and request Mr. Kosgey to second."
}