The Council met with officials of Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Ports Authority earlier this month to discuss issues affecting exports through the port of Mombasa. These include delays in passing of export entries which still takes an average of 12 hours and extends up to two days especially on Fridays.  Rose Gichira, KRA Deputy Commissioner, Coast Region committed to ensure that the Document Processing Center (DPC) prioritizes the passing of export entries especially for perishables. Exporters were however asked to exercise good planning practices to avoid the Friday rush. This will also eliminate the need to pass provisional entries if proper procedures and expeditious passing of entries was done. 

She further emphasized that loading of the export containers at shippers premises (upcountry) must  be done under customs supervision.  The supervising  customs officer puts up a report and releases online through the Simba system. "If containers are to be opened at the exporter’s premises in Mombasa for any reason, the exporter is required to call a customs officer for supervision of loading and sealing. The officer will then input an examination account and release the container online before it is transported to the port", she said.

On verification of export containers, Ms. Gichira explained that once loading has been done under customs supervision and container sealed, there was no further requirement for the container to be opened at the port, unless the seal has been tampered with. KSC expressed satisfaction with the solutions given and promised to sensitize members on the procedures and further urged KRA  to provide the necessary support to exporters.