Delayed clearance of goods and corruption along the various East African transport corridor points took a lion share of the incidences the Intergovernmental Standing Committee on Shipping (ISCOS) received through various platforms it has created to report Non-Tariff Barriers.
The agency, which unveiled a mobile-based application early this year to boost this reporting, received over 170 cases since February this year with over 50 of them being related to delays of clearance at various border posts, weighbridges, ports both in the Central and Northern Corridor by various cargo interveners. Most of these cases were reported through the new application between 2nd February and 17th November this year.
Most of the delays reported were occasioned by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Ministry of Health in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and the Anti- Counterfeit Agency (ACA), among others.
Due to protocols introduced by the governments both at the national and regional level to contain the spread of Covid 19 since March when the first cases were recorded in East Africa, there were serious effects on the seamless flow of the cargo.
There was a reduced staff at various points in the logistics chain, causing cargo clearance delays and serious congestion at the border crossing points, due to fear of transmission by truck drivers who were at some point cited as super spreaders.
About 35 corruption incidences were reported. The locations include customs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, border posts, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports, Inland Container Depots, SUMATRA, National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) in Mombasa, Inland Container Depot and Kenya Bureau of Standards, among others.
The corruption is aided by the human contacts, which is expected to drop significantly once KPA, KenTrade, and KRA fully roll out the Integrated Customs Management Systems (iCMS), which will remove all the paperwork in cargo clearance, a move that is expected to be done by the end of this month.
ISCOS’ new mobile app to report, monitor and resolve NTBs at ports and along the trade and transport corridors can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone.
One can now download the application through Google Play Store and report Non-Tariff Barriers, report any incidence, seek information, or give any other feedback through the app.
The platform, dubbed “ISCOS Shipplinc”, is accessible via an app that can be freely downloaded by Android and iPhone operating systems, and provides information on various aspects of freight logistics and international trade, including information on regional trade corridors and port key performance indicators which are fed into the system regularly.
Despite the progress the regional logistics has made, it is still experiencing persistent non-tariff barriers arising from administrative and procedural processes that have increased the cost of doing business.
ISCOS is an initiative of four states – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia – and plays a key advisory role on shipping and maritime matters, geared towards enhancing regional trade, harmonizing shipping and maritime policy in the Member States and other initiatives geared towards reducing the cost of doing business while improving efficiency in the logistics chain.
The app will also cover ISCOS non-Member States using the Dar es Salaam Corridor, a multi-modal transport route running from the port in Dar es Salaam through to landlocked Malawi, Zambia, and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new platform, which was rolled out after piloting, also includes a cargo tracking module for monitoring the movement of cargo along the main road corridors and transit routes in the region linked to the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports.
Traders using the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam can now report an incident and receive updates of their cargo from loading to the destination on a mobile phone using the new application.
ISCOS secretary general Daniel Kiange, in a recent media interview, said;
“The app is simplified to allow anyone in freight and logistics to interact with it and it will end the communication gap which has been in the industry for many years. The platform has provisions to report any agency not giving services as required and also getting feedback and any information regarding importation and exportation of goods.”
