The Government has gazetted various facilities to be used for deconsolidation and clearance of cargo imported by Small Scale Traders to ease the process. All cargo consolidated at the countries of export will, upon importation into the country, be deconsolidated at facilities designated for that purpose.
“All Consolidators and Importers are hereby notified, that with effect from 8th February 2021, all consolidated cargo imported by sea and transported to Nairobi through the Standard Gauge Railway, will be deconsolidated, cleared and collected by the owners at the Kenya Railways Corporation (Boma Line) Transit Shed; the facility designated for this purpose,” the Commissioner Customs and Border Control announced in notice issued this week.
Cargo destined for other parts of the country will be deconsolidated at the other designated facilities. The owners of the consignments will collect their cargo from the deconsolidation centers.
Importers, cargo consolidators and their clearing agents are required to fully comply and provide correct information to Customs to avoid contravention of Sections 203(a) and (b) of the East African Customs Management Act (EACCMA) 2004 that makes it an offence to make a false declaration of any kind, the notice further said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday commissioned the Container Freight Station (CFS)-Kenya Railways Corporation Transit Shed, near its Nairobi Central Station in November last year. The initiative is in conjunction with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
President Kenyatta said the launch of the facility forms part of the government’s efforts in ensuring traders have an equal opportunity to operate in the country.
Small traders will now not pay the standard $1,000 (Sh109,000) container deposits, which the President said will subsequently reduce the cost of doing business.
National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani said the facility will serve traders in Nairobi and its environs while facilitating easy access of their goods.
“Establishment of the Boma line is part of initiatives to bring services closer to taxpayers and facilitate them to conduct their business effectively and efficiently,”Yatani said.
Cargo for the SMES will be transported from the Port of Mombasa to ICDN, Embakasi, and later trans-shipped to the transit shed using Metre Gauge Railway (MGR). At the shed, consolidated cargo will be stripped from containers and stored in customs. They will be arranged according to their nature with marking for easy tracking and identification.
The verification by customs officers and other government agencies will be done on specific single goods as opposed to the typical verification of a whole container.
This will simplify the verification process and reduce the time taken in clearing cargo.
Traders with goods of customs value of $10,000 (Sh1 million) or less will now be allowed to make an import declaration on a simplified mobile App or a direct assessment entry, while those with goods of customs value above Sh1 million will clear through a registered clearing agent in the customs system.
During the launch, KRA Commissioner General Githii Mburu said plans are underway to progressively increase additional warehouses as volume of trade increases and also train traders on how to clear cargo without the assistance of clearing agents.
“Adoption of technology in our key operations as a revenue authority has made it easier for taxpayers to access our services hence elimination of intervention from third parties,” Mburu said.
The transit shed is expected to serve approximately 7,500 small traders in Nairobi and its environs and will accommodate approximately 100-40-foot containers per month, raking in an approximate Sh110 million in revenue.
The number of containers being cleared at the facility is later expected to increase to approximately 300 containers per month during the post Covid period.
This will create an opportunity for KRA to collect approximately Sh 1 billion a month from the shed once its operational 24 hours.
It is estimated that there are approximately 7.41 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contributing approximately 30 per cent of the country’s GDP growth.
The facility will complement the ICDN which has been critical in KRA’s revenue basket, with a monthly average revenue collection of Sh10.32 billion last year.
