The Standards (Inspection of Imports) Order, 2018 

On 7^th June 2018, the Cabinet Secretary of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives signed Legal Notice Number 127 of 2018, the Standards (Inspection of Imports) Order. This Order replaces Legal Notice Number 78 of 2005, the Verification of Conformity to Kenya Standards Order. All goods destined for Kenya and loaded on or after 1^st October, 2018 shall be subject to the new order.

The new order still provides for the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVOC) to Standards Program which program requires that all goods imported into Kenya are subjected to compliance with Kenya standards or approved specifications in the country of origin. The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) currently partners with five inspection bodies which are authorized to conduct inspections and issue certificates of conformity on goods destined for Kenya. Please refer to the PVOC manual for more details on the inspection bodies and the areas which they cover.

The salient change in the new order is that destination inspection carried out by KEBS on goods which arrive without a certificate of conformity will be charged an inspection fee of twenty percent of the approved customs value of the goods while in the previous order, the inspection fee was fifteen percent of the Cost, Insurance and Freight Value of the goods. The new order has also removed the requirement for an importer of goods which have no certificate of conformity to execute a security bond equivalent to the inspection fee.

Registered consolidators of imported goods 

KEBS has also recently released a list of registered consolidators who are authorised to import a wide range of products or merchandise in small quantities or parcels belonging to several consignees who have pooled or assembled together to form one consignment. The consolidators are required to submit a packing list of the goods in one consignment and request certification from KEBS’ inspection partners.

These moves are meant to tighten controls in importation in order to curb the influx of substandard and counterfeit goods.

Appointment of Inter-Agency Anti-Illicit Trade Executive Forum and Technical Working Group

 In another move meant to counter trade in counterfeit goods, the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Industry and Co-operatives recently appointed the members of the Inter-Agency Anti-Illicit Trade Executive Forum and Working Group. Both the Executive Forum and the Technical Working Group consist of representatives from the Ministry of Trade, KEBS, Anti-Counterfeit Agency, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Industrial Property Institute, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, National Police Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions among other bodies.

Some of the functions of the Executive Forum are to:

• Advise  the  Cabinet  Secretary  responsible  for  trade  and industry on all matters involving illicit trade:
• Co-ordinate with other ministries, departments and agencies and county governments with regard to issues of illicit trade;
• Review the work of the Multi-Agency working group on a quarterly basis;
• Consider and approve the implementation plan of the National Strategy on combating illicit trade;
• Mobilize resources to implement the National Strategy;
• Submit an annual report on its work to the Cabinet Secretary responsible for trade and industry; and
• Perform any other functions as directed by the Cabinet Secretary responsible for trade and industry.

The functions of the Technical Working Group are to:

• Develop  a  National  Strategy  on  combating  illicit  trade  in Kenya:
• Co-ordinate the surveillance and investigations of the sources of merchandise that infringe on various laws, regulations and policies which form part of illicit trade;
• Co-ordinate with stakeholders on the enforcement of various laws, regulations and policies on illicit trade;
• Co-ordinate with KRA on the importation and exportation of merchandise that are illicit in nature;
• Support the international interdiction of merchandise destined for Kenya that are illicit in nature;
• Collect and integrate information on illicit trade from domestic and international law enforcement agencies;
• Develop a means to receive and organize information regarding illicit trade from domestic and international law enforcement agencies;
• Develop and implement risk-based alert systems, in co- ordination with KRA, to improve the targeting of persons that deal with illicit trade;
• Co-ordinate with the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions in order to develop expertise in, and assist with the investigation and prosecution of, crimes relating to illicit trade; and
• Carry out such other duties as the Executive Forum may assign.

Please reach us on info@cfllegal.com for more information.