EAGC participated in the Technical Committee review of the public comments of the Draft Kenya standard (DKS 2657:2022 Warehouse and warehousing for bagged storage of cereals and pulses — Requirements), held at the Kenya National Bureau of Standards on 14th July, 2022.
The standard provides guidelines on the interaction with warehouses which are used for storage and physical protection of grains against the weather, pests and insecurity. Warehouses also include materials and equipment required for inspection, drying, screening, sorting, grading, packaging and handling of bagged grain and storage pest control.
The Draft Kenya Standard was circulated for public comments on the 22nd April, 2022 for a period of 2 months, following the required revision by the Cereals and pulses Technical Committee in accordance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
The second edition of the standard is set to replace the first edition of KS 2657:2016
Following the Technical Committee review of the public comments, the then developed clean draft which will be deemed as the accepted technical content of the draft Kenya standard, will be subjected to the Technical Committee ballot. If it amasses a 75% TC vote it shall constitute an approval vote and shall be gazetted as Kenya standards. If less than 75%, the standard is subjected to another round of review.
The objective of the standard is to provide guidance to the grain industry regarding appropriate storage of cereals and pulses so as to reduce the level of post-harvest losses incurred in these commodities.
Once in place, the revised standard will enhance Structured Trading Systems (STS) in the region to promote both regional and international trade in cereals and pulses. In addition, the standard will play a major role in the implementation of the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) and the operationalization of the regional Commodity Exchange.
EAGC chairs the Kenya Technical Committee on Pulses and Cereals.
