Cabinet Secretary for Trade Moses Kuria and his Transport counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday, April 14, met top leadership of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the tax agency to develop new mechanisms aimed at enhancing business in the country.
The multi-agency meeting took place at KPA Mombasa and it was aimed at easing business with a special emphasis on logistics.
The meeting was also attended by Kenya Bureau Of Standards (KEBS) Chairman Dr Jeremiah Kinyua and KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto who discussed system integration to avoid unnecessary delay and costs.
The senior government officials extensively canvased the unification and synchronisation of government agencies for technical approvals.
Simplifying export licenses and port operational hours were also resolutions arrived at during the meeting that also reviewed border delays due to the multiplicity of scans.
As a result, the leaders agreed on ten important resolutions which they believed would unlock the country's potential in trade.
Resolutions:
1. The officials agreed that Kenya Ports Authority and other government agencies will not accept containers into the port if not declared and logged into the iCMS customs system and Kilindini Waterfront Automated Terminal Operations System (KWATOS) at the point of acceptance.
"Declaration into these systems must be made at the point of acceptance and granted," read part of the statement that was signed by Kuria, Murkomen and Anthony Mwaura, KPA Board Chairman.
2. It was resolved that perishable goods verification by regulatory agencies such as Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) should be done at the point of loading and permit approvals granted in the single window system, to facilitate track and tracing mechanism.
3. The Cabinet Secretaries also resolved that KPA will communicate and enforce 24 hours cut-off acceptance time for fresh produce exporters.
4. It was also agreed that all government agencies involved in port operations as well as exporters will undertake to achieve 24-hour port operations.
5. At the same time, the government will consider options of increasing scanners and equipment including outsourcing to enable its agencies to focus on world-class service delivery.
6. The sixth resolution stated that, as part of enhancing government agencies' collaboration, the KPA community will be expanded to include exporters, and Ministry Investments, Trade and Industry (MITI).
7. The tax agency was tasked with fast-tracking the inclusion of other agencies in the operationalisation of the Authorized Economic Operators and Pre-arrival processing of cargo framework to enable faster cargo clearance at the ports.
8. It was agreed that a reporting and escalation framework mechanism will be worked on between KPA and MITI in the Kilindini Waterfront Automated System (KWATOS) system.
9. The nine resolution state that MITI and the tax agency will re-look at the green channel requirements for exporters with a view of encouraging compliance to ease exports and facilitate trade.
10. The tax agency committed to opening a customs office in Tanzania to mirror Uganda and enhance the custom border point at Moyale. This will be followed by the inter-ministerial visit of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia ministers to the border points.
"We agreed to streamline and introduce bonded warehouses for imported used vehicle inspection. We will work together for a zero long-stay containers policy," read part of the statement.
