The delay in clearance of imported cargo at the various ports is a matter that can be looked at using a two-pronged approach, considering that the Kenya Revenue Authority’s key interest is to decongest the port.
For starters, we have to ask; what is the cause of the delay? How transparent is the planned disposal? Has the importer exhausted all the avenues of redeeming the goods before KRA can think of disposing of the same? Those are the key areas that you need to touch.
Mostly, the delay is caused by an inefficient system which does not work within the four days an importer is expected to clear cargo from the port – having paid duty.
Storage charges follow on the fifth day of the arrival of a container. Because most importers plan for four days, they are slowed down when they are told duty has changed –factoring the charges from the fifth day.
Since a number cannot put the entry at that time, more days are likely to follow. Before you know it, an importer has duty charges above what they intended to pay, plus storage. Before dealing with storage at the port, warehouse charges follow with shipping line costs in tow.
The trouble, therefore, begins from the inefficiencies which make an importer or clearing agent fail to understand how much duty is supposed to be paid in the first place. You cannot predict how much you will pay in Kenya in terms of taxes, hence, unless one has extra cash then the goods are candidates of a public auction.
For government entities, most of the goods are brought in by contractors. The lot must also get clearance from the government in terms of taxes. By the time they get clearance from the government, the storage charge has accrued. Because government to government dealings have restrictions on additional expenditure, an importer rarely finds proper ground to justify the increased cost. This goes even to the extent of extra days since most goods are cleared in 30 days instead of the 21 set in the law.
Much as the government concedes and pays for the 20 days, the importer has the other days to take care of. It is a mismanaged system that is causing the disposal of uncleared goods.
The Logistics expert spoke to the Star
