AGAYO OGAMBI: Shippers fault Kephis new rules on inspecting containers

In 2024, Mombasa Port registered an impressive port throughput, with containerised cargo reaching more than two million. This is despite challenges, including Red Sea disruption and economic inflation in different regions globally.

What is not spoken of, but probably whispered about and feared most, is the probability of pests being brought into the country. Pest contamination is an unintended consequence of international trade. Regrettably, the awareness of pests’ risks and consequences is relatively low.

To keep pests out of shipping containers, a multi-pronged approach of cleaning and inspection at different ports is crucial for any visible pests, soil, or other contaminants before packing. This involves inspecting for visible pests, cleaning the containers’ interior and exterior, and potentially employing fumigation or other treatments before and after packing. It is not lost on the industry and informed stakeholders that more than 182 million TEUs moved around the world last year, hence, no one single entity or country can adequately mitigate the risks.

By implementing the cleaning and inspecting measures, the spread of invasive pests through international trade can be minimised, leading to faster cargo release and reduced costs at the destination ports.

Further limited or no information exists on the severity of the pest challenges but a lot can be achieved silently if awareness is raised and preventive measures adopted, not ignoring the need for risk-profiling.

History is awash with examples of how destructive pests have entered countries through imported goods or packaging, and wreaked devastation on native plant species. It is said that the Great Potato Blight, which caused famine and mass migration from Ireland in the 1840s, was caused by the import of the pest responsible from Central America to Europe aboard sailing ships.

Several countries have already taken unilateral action to protect their native plant species against specific pests. The Australian government introduced new requirements to protect against the introduction of the Khapra Beetle, a small insect that could devastate the country’s cereal grain crop were it to become established. The government requires the pre-treatment of containers imported from listed countries and carrying specific cargoes.

New Zealand has similar measures and controls to protect against different pests threatening other countries. Canada and the US are concerned about threats to their forests and their wheat crops; fire ants are a big threat to native species in Japan. 

In the 20th Century, large numbers of trees in the US and Europe were lost to disease and pests thought to have been unknowingly imported as international trade spread.  

In Kenya, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis), a government parastatal, is responsible for assuring the quality of agricultural inputs and produce. It has the strategic objective of mitigating the risk of introduction and spread of plant pests, enhancing early warning, emergency response and management of pests.

Kephis draws its mandate from legal framework: the Kephis Act of 2012, the Plant Protection Act (Cap 324), the Export Act (Cap 319), Legal Notice 48 of 2009 and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) standards.

Since March this year, it has implemented new regulations for cleaning and inspection of shipping containers, both loaded and empty.

These inspections aim to ensure containers meet cleanliness and suitability standards to prevent the introduction and spread of pests and diseases. It charges an inspection fee of Sh375 per containers and Sh2,000 for any vessel docking at Lamu or Mombasa ports. Some shipping lines are taking advantage and charging shippers $10-$25.

A number of concerns arise from this intervention, including whether Kephis has the capacity to undertake the inspections and how the targeting and sampling of containers will be handled in the absence of risk-profiling.

Fears abound that targeting the containers at the Port of Mombasa and or at the border entry points could cause delays and increased costs and that the sampling may not adequately mitigate the dangers. An additional concern is duplication of charges being imposed on shippers, considering they already pay cleaning charges to shipping lines, bear the resultant costs implications and the fear of causing delays and congestion.

The Maritime News-Shipping-The Global Shippers Forum (GSF) has been monitoring and influencing these developments since 2018 when it was invited to join an UN’s International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) taskforce set up to examine the threat to plant health posed by pest-contaminated containers and cargoes.

That taskforce reported at the end of 2021 and set out a range of regulatory options for its parent body, the Commission for Phytosanitary Measures to consider. Crucially, it also warned that implementation of new mandatory requirements could impose significant new costs and risks to the fluidity of the international movement of containers and further disrupt world trade. GSF was clear in its opposition to new rules applying indiscriminately to every container shipment, urging that controls and resources instead target high-risk trade corridors and specific pest threats.

Legislation alone cannot address the dangers of pests entering countries. Shippers and shipping lines can be in the forefront by taking simple measures. Cargo owners should ensure care in how they pack into the containers, how the containers are stored and also ensure containers are cleaned before shipping at the cost of the exporter and/or importer. The efforts of shippers to avoid contamination during packing will be wasted if the empty containers supplied to them are already infested, or dispatched containers are stored under the wrong conditions awaiting shipment. Container cleanliness is an industry-wide issue and responsibility.

Luckily, in Kenya for many years shipping lines have been charging for container cleaning and thus are expected to ensure the containers are cleaned before being expatriated to other ports.

Shippers should further take responsibility by checking that containers are cleaned before packing and shipping lines should validate that the containers’ risks of carrying pests are mitigated when loading for shipment. This must be done at the country of origin and port of loading and not at the port of destination as envisaged by Kephis.

Given the important role Kephis plays, the government must ensure adequate funding for this institution and impress upon Kephis the need to work with similar institution under the IPPC. This should make it mandatory for container cleaning at the country of origin. For its part, Kephis should ensure export containers are cleaned and meet the requirements of the countries of destination.

Kephis must ensure safety by demanding containers be inspected at countries of origin. Canada, the US and a number of European countries already require exporters to ensure container cleanliness and meet the requisite standards before being allowed into the countries. These countries also require exporters to engage appropriate stakeholders for appropriate, effective and efficient mechanisms to address the identified challenges.

Kephis must be supported through the Exchequer to protect our country.

AGAYO OGAMBI is CEO, Shippers Council of Eastern Africa, chairman, Mombasa Port and Northern Corridor Community Charter [email protected]