Kenya declares zero moth tolerance as EU export rules tighten
Business
By
Esther Nyambura
| Mar 25, 2025
Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe has declared a zero-tolerance policy on the False Codling Moth (FCM) as Kenya moves to ensure full compliance with new European Union (EU) regulations on flower exports.
This comes after the EU heightened its restrictions on fresh-cut roses over concerns they could introduce FCM, a pest that is endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and widely distributed in Kenya.
The regulations began in 2017, with concerns that the pest affects flowers and a wide range of crops such as citrus, avocado, and vegetables.
In 2023, following a study commissioned by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) indicating that fresh-cut roses pose a risk of introducing FCM to Europe, the EU introduced new regulations in July 2024, imposing stricter conditions on Kenyan rose exports.
The rules, which take effect on April 26, 2025, demand significant changes in the production and supply chain of roses. Failure to comply could severely disrupt Kenya's flower exports to the EU.
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To address the issue, Kagwe says the country will adopt the Systems Approach - one of the four compliance options provided by the EU.
Under this method, it has developed and submitted an FCM Systems Approach Protocol to the EU, alongside evidence of its effectiveness in managing the pests at production sites.
Additionally, a list of 134 approved production sites has been submitted, each assigned a unique code for traceability in case of non-compliance.
According to Kagwe, the government is committed to ensuring Kenya's flower exports meet the required standards.
"With all this in place, I would like to assure the EU that our compliance will be at 100%, and our produce will meet the highest quality standards, ensuring that no FCM is ever detected in our flowers again," said Kagwe.
Adding the ministry is working through key agencies such as KEPHIS, KALRO, PCPB, and AFA, to actively implement the Systems Approach to meet EU requirements, with 475 agro attendants and over 849 staff, so far, trained to align with the new regulations.
Flowers are Kenya's largest horticultural export value, with 102,475.80 tonnes valued at Sh72.1 billion exported in 2024.