Kenya plans to enact an anti-dumping law to protect local industries from cheap imports, a senior government official said Monday. Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Adan Mohammed told a media briefing in Nairobi that parliament has already endorsed the Kenya Trade Remedies bill and should receive presidential assent before the end of the year.

"The law will protect the domestic market and industries from unfair trade practices and threats arising from dumping and subsidies from other countries," Mohamed said during the launch of the National Trade Week.

Once the law is operational, the government will impose stiff penalties on traders who import subsidized goods that provide unfair competition to locally made goods.

The East African nation currently lacks a legal framework and institutional mechanism and capacity to undertake surveillance for cases of dumping, subsidies and other unfair competition that are disallowed under the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Mohammed said Kenya like other WTO member countries is permitted policy space to discipline unfair trade practices.

The CS noted that a trade remedy provision will be included in all future bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that Kenya concludes with other partners.

The law will also create the Kenya Trade Remedy Agency that will monitor imports to ensure there is no dumping of subsided goods.

Xinhua