By Charles Katabalwa/Umoja Standard
Kampala, Uganda: Uganda Animal Feeds Manufacturers Association (UAFMA) calls for stringent measures to curb masquerades in Animal feeds job to ensure sustainability and income generation.
It is on record that one many occasions Uganda Agriculture products such as eggs, Children, milk, Maize among others have been stopped to be imported into markets of neighbouring countries due to poor quality
The chairman of UAFMA and director of Murwana J Peter stores in Kisenyi Aimable Mbarushimana during the press conference told the journalists that many people have entered the business of Animals feeds but failed to follow proper rules and regulations ending up producing Feeds of poor quality which are sold to famers who also produce poor quality products which can’t compete on local and international market.
“Government must start giving out heavy punishments to those found in breach of the proper fishing guidelines, such as burning caught fish and nets, imprisonment , paying big sums of money among others, to work as example to others who would want to indulge in improper fishing which he said also affect other sectors of the society like animal and chicken feeds which use the fish mostly Small fish (Mukene) because there irregularities in getting it and the drying process which end up affecting the animal feeds industry” Mbarushimana adds.
Whereas there are efforts to ensure they manufacture feeds that will satisfy the local market, some of those involved in the business tend to use underhand methods that compromise the quality of the products they give to farmers and cited an example of small fish(Mukene) dealers whom he accused of adding sand into it and thereby compromising the quality of animal and chicken feeds produced.
David Waliggo, a policy, legal and tax consultant has pointed out Dealers who import small fish and Kikejje from neighbouring Tanzania and add sand saying those masquerades must be worked upon to have sanity in the job,”Waliggo disclosed
Waliggo adds they know very well people tarnishing the efforts of local Feeds job and eagerly ready to name and shame them but if government turn a deaf ear the quality of locally produced feeds will go down and ditched by farmers in favour of the imported concentrate feeds, hence will affecting the supply chain which employs a big number of Ugandans and pay tax to government.
Last Month Manufacturers and Dealers of animal and poultry feeds backed the government’s move to review the taxation on imported feeds following the Uganda Revenue Authority-URA announcement of the new taxes including the Value Added Tax (VAT) of 28 percent and import duty of 10 percent, additional to the already existing withholding tax.