The European Union has post-poned implementation of the controversial sanitary and phytosanitary conditions for Kenyan exports

The effective date for the new standards that were to take effect on January 1, 2005, has now been moved to June 1. Yesterday, Trade and Industry minister Mukhisa Kituyi said Kenya had been given one year to comply with the new standards. The decision to suspend implementation of the standards is expected to give Kenyan exporters some reprieve from imminent exclusion from the lucrative EU market, which takes up to 70 per cent of the country's flower, and horticulture exports. The flower industry earns Kenya some Sh20 billion annually in foreign exchange. The sector is also a leading employer that supports an estimated 500,000 people. With an annual output of 35,000 tonnes and control of 60 per cent of the US$165 million African flower trade, Kenya is among the world's leading producers of cut flowers, supplying about 25 per cent of European Union's total requirements. The phytosanitary, sanitary, and traceability conditions, are largely seen as a big threat to Kenya's most vibrant sector. Kituyi urged the EU to help fund domestication of the new conditions in Kenya, instead of imposing them.