Mumias East MP Peter Salasya has moved a motion in Parliament seeking to bar select businessmen from trading in the sugar industry.
In his motion debated on Wednesday, the lawmaker attributed the influx in substandard sugar to the state reportedly allowing businessmen, both millers and non-millers, to import the product.
He argued that the loophole allows businesses, including supermarkets, to import sugar and repackage it for sale without adequate and legal labelling. Thus, different supermarkets have their own sugar brands trading cheaper than those manufactured in Kenya.
"(We are) concerned that despite regulations, there have been instances of illegal importation of low-quality or adulterated sugar and unscrupulous traders have been found to rebrand sugar that does not meet Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) specifications," he told the sitting.
"This poses a significant health risk to consumers as well as undermining efforts to strengthen the sugar industry to protect local millers."
Therefore, the lawmaker wants the state to bar importers without local milling companies from importing the sugar.
"The government through the Ministry of Trade should ensure strict operationalisation of the regulatory frameworks governing sugar importation into the country," he added.
Salaysa, an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) MP, further explained that the regulation will help the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) better track tax cheats and curb the entry of mercury sugar locally.
If approved, the ripple effect will also affect other industries whose players revel in importing cheap products before repackaging and reselling exorbitantly.
Kenyan sugar millers have for years lamented the influx of cheap imported sugar into the country, affecting local businesses.
In 2021, local sugar cane farmers appealed to the state to help save the industry, arguing that heartless importers were killing their earnings.
It is estimated that with the cheap imports, the Western Kenya counties of Busia, Kakamega, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia stand to record the biggest losses.
President William Ruto, since assumption of office, promised to crack down on cartels in the sugar industry, further lamenting that they were derailing government plans to restore defunct factories.
"We cannot run business as government. We have tried that before, and it has failed. We pump in millions, and it sinks. How can private mills be functioning profitably when government-owned is riddled with debt? It's a management issue," the head of state complained during his tour of the Western Kenya region in August this year.
