Used Car Buyers Face New Importation Fees

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Traffic snarl-up at Uhuru Highway in Nairobi in March 2020.
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Used car importers are poised to pay a new importation fee as the country moves towards fading out second-hand automobiles by 2026. 

Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) wants to curb the importation of foreign pests. Managing director Theophilus Mutui thus wrote to car dealers notifying them of the proposed pest inspection fee.

Importers of used cars will part with Ksh2,000, vans and minibuses Ksh3,000, buses Ksh5,000, trucks and other commercial machinery Ksh10,000. 

"All used vehicles, machinery, equipment, motorboats and yachts imported into or imported and transiting through Kenya whether whole, disassembled or parts and associated accessories shall be required to have undergone phytosanitary decontamination prior to shipment to Kenya," the draft reads. 

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Matatus at traffic snarl-up along Waiyaki Way in Nairobi
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Aircraft, motorised boats and yacht importers will pay up to Ksh20,000 inspection fee. 

"The Plant Protection (Decontamination of Used Vehicles, Machinery and Equipment) Rules 2021 were therefore developed to provide a legal framework for mitigation of the risks associated with this pathway," Mutui said. 

KEPHIS further proposed a Ksh2 million fine or a jail term of up to 2 years or both for lawbreakers. 

The agency is keen on collecting over Ksh200 million from used imports with car importers contributing over Ksh160 million of the money.

Importers under Kenya Auto Bazaar Association opposed the move arguing that KEPHIS was introducing outrageous laws that would affect the industry which contributes over Ksh60 billion to the economy annually. 

KABA asked KEPHIS to table criteria used to set the regulations arguing that they have never witnessed any danger arise from car imports. 

A similar proposal by the plant agency was mooted in 2017. Importers of second-hand cars, motorcycles and tractors were to to pay a Ksh5,000 fee before the imports were allowed to enter the Kenyan market.

The government extended the deadline for used car imports from two years to five years with a focus on promoting locally assembled vehicles. Second-hand cars will be faced out by 2026 rather than 2023 as earlier proposed. 

Imported cars at the port of Mombasa await clearance.
Imported cars at the port of Mombasa await clearance.
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