GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 8161

under the Agriculture and Food Authority Act, 2013 and is mandated bylaw to administer the Crops Act, 2013 and to exercise the functions set out in that Act and under the Agriculture and Food Authority Act, 2013. Section 40 of the Crops Act and section 46 of the Agriculture and Food Authority Act empowers the Cabinet Secretary responsible for agriculture to make regulations to implement the legislative provisions in consultation with the Authority and the County Govemments. Policy Statement It is the Government's commitment to accelerate the growth and development of agriculture in general, enhance productivity and incomes of farmers and the rural population, improve investment climate and efficiency of agribusiness and develop agricultural crops as export crops that will augment the foreign exchange earnings of the country, through promotion of the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of crops in suitable areas of the country. The sugar industry is one of the key sub-sectors targeted by the Government for legislative and policy reforms. The Government is in the process of reforming the sugar industry through strengthening the legal and regulatory framework to achieve its policy objectives stated above. Draft Regulations and Regulatory Impact Statement To drive the sugar industry reform agenda, and to operationalize parts of the Crops Act, the Cabinet Secretary, has in consultation with the Agriculture and Food Authority and County Governments and various stakeholders over a considerable period of time, prepared The Crops (Sugar) (General) Regulations, 2018 and the Crops (Sugar) (Imports, Exports and By-Products) Regulations, 2018. Section 6 of the Statutory Instruments Act provides that if a proposed statutory instrument is likely to impose significant costs on the community or a part of the community, the regulation making authority shall, prior to making the statutory instrument, prepare a 10th August, 2018 THE KENYA GAZETFE 2847 regulatory impact statement about the instrument. The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation has prepared a regulatory impact statement on the Regulations. Copies of the Draft Regulations and the Regulatory Impact Statement may be obtained or inspected online at www.afa.go.ke or may be obtained from or inspected at AFA on payment of copying charges at the AFA Head Office, Tea House, Naivasha Road, off Ngong Road, Nairobi, during working hours. Invitation of Comments Section 8 of the Statutory Instruments Act requires that before making a statutory instrument, the regulation-making authority shall publish notice to all persons likely to be affected by the regulations a notification of regulatory impact assessment. The Authority therefore invites written comments for consideration from the general public and sugar industry stakeholders on the Draft Regulations. The comments should be addressed to: The Interim Director-General, Agriculture and Food Authority, Tea House, Naivasha Road, Off Ngong Road P.O. Box 37962-00100 NAIROBI. E-mail:info@agricultureauthority.go.ke So as to reach him on or before the expiry of fourteen (14) days from the date of publication of this notice. Dated the 31st July, 2018. JOSEPH NGETICH, Interim Director-General, MR/5 159535 Agriculture and Food Authority.