Gov’t Tables Sugar Amendment Bill, 2023

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Summary:

• The Sugar (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Uganda introduces the Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholder Council to replace the inactive Sugar Board, aiming to regulate the sugar industry, address licensing issues, and amend the formula for determining sugar cane prices.

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The initiation of the regulatory process for Uganda’s sugar industry has begun with the presentation of the Sugar (Amendment) Bill, 2023. This bill introduces the Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholder Council, which will assume the responsibilities formerly held by the Sugar Board established by the Sugar Act of 2020 to oversee and regulate the country’s sugar industry.

Presented for its first reading during the plenary sitting on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, by Mr. David Bahati, the Minister of State for Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives (Industry), the Sugar (Amendment) Bill aims to address the inability to establish the Sugar Board due to government policies on rationalization restricting the creation of statutory bodies.

The proposed amendment seeks to replace the Sugar Board with the sugar industry stakeholder council, comprising representatives from various sectors of the sugar industry. The council’s funding will be derived from a sugar levy imposed on millers. The composition of the council will include a Chairperson, four representatives each from sugar cane growers and millers, and representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, and Trade. Notably, government representatives on the council will not have voting rights, as specified in the bill.

In addition to establishing the council, the bill aims to revise the formula used to determine the price of sugar cane sold to millers, aligning it with international norms. Speaker Anita Among referred the bill to the Committee on Tourism, Trade, and Industry for further consideration.

The bill is particularly timely as it coincides with the House Committee on Tourism’s examination of a petition by the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association. The association contested the licensing of new millers and the legality of these licenses. It was revealed during discussions with the Committee of Tourism on November 30, 2023, that licenses issued after the enactment of the Sugar Act are deemed void. The Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Jackson Kafuuzi, confirmed that the proposed amendment aims to rectify these “erroneous” decisions.