Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) will consider extension of the free storage period on a specific case basis as opposed to blanket approach its counterpart in Kenya introduced.
The review shall be assessed and considered favourably on merit basis depending on the nature of individual cases separately, a letter written to the President of Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA), Fred Seka, on 18th May 2020 said.
“As much as we appreciate the concerns raised in your letter on the impact caused by Covid 19 pandemic, we wish to inform you that the mandatory free storage period can be reviewed with specific reasons on the impact noted for each cargo upon assessing the individual situation of Covid 19,” TPA Director General Duesdedit Kakoko wrote.
The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) and The Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA) had written letters to both the TPA and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) seeking extension of the free storage period due the delays being occasioned by the measures that the two agencies have put in place to tackle Covid-19 spread.
They cited delays in arrival of original commercial documents required for cargo clearance, which are traditionally moved by air.
“ Reduced efficiency created by reduced workforce and or reduced working hours by Revenue Authorities, Port Authorities, Inland Container Depots and Container Freight Stations, Shipping lines, Standards Bureaus and others in order to keep social distance or retreating for mandatory quarantine have contributed to many delays,” the letters further said.
The lock downs imposed by some EAC Partner States have reduced efficiency of all the freight forwarders in the region through reducing working hours, reduced manpower and inability to move.
Also the night curfews have subjected movement of cargo to several checks and additional time-consuming requirements increasing the transit times and almost no office work at night.
“Border efficiency has reduced due to a reduction in manpower by the trade facilitation agencies, introduction of addition procedures such as testing for COVID-19, reduced working hours, restrictions on the movement by customs agents among others,” concluded the letter.
However, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) gave a blanket extension of free storage period starting on 20th May for the next 90 days. Domestic export containers will enjoy a free storage period of 15 days compared to 9 days granted earlier.
Transit import containers at the port and Inland Container Depot in Embakasi will enjoy a 14 days free storage period from 9 days with transit import container in Naivasha enjoying 30 days. Transit export container will now enjoy a 20 days free storage period from the current 15 days. However domestic import cargo four days free storage period remained unchanged.
“This is in line with our deliberate and continuous efforts of cushioning our customers of the Covid-19 which has affected the entire logistics chain,” KPA acting Managing Director Rashid Salim announced in a public notice.
Importers had called KPA for increase the free cargo period from four to 11 days for local cargo and from nine days to 21 days for transit cargo.
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