Stand-off as KPA insists on container verification charges
A cargo pile-up looms as the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and clearing and forwarding agents wrangle over container verification charges.
KPA on one hand maintains that the fee will not be scrapped while the agents argue they were ambushed.
This, as shippers join in challenging the charges introduced on Monday.
KPA has contracted Mercantile Cargo Terminal Operations Limited to provide container stripping services during verification.
This will see cargo owners part with $120 ( about Sh 12,099) verification fee on a twenty-foot container and between $160 (Sh16,176) and $200 (Sh20,220) for 40-foot containers, according to clearing firms, a move that will add to the cost of doing business.
“We are not suspending the tariff. It is a service requested by government agencies or any other intervening agency,” said Peter Masinde, KPA manager in- charge of the Inland Container Deport-Nairobi.
According to KPA, the verification fee is not a new charge as it existed when Container Freights Stations(CFSs) were in full operation. KPA would nominate cargo to the CFSs which would then cater for verification fee payable by cargo owners.
This was on intervention of cargo by Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards and other state agencies which verify cargo suspected to contain contraband, mis-declared goods or under-declared goods.
“Verification is not a KPA role. What we do is provide space, facility and labour. And this is not a new thing, only that we have moved verification from CFSs to KPA facilities,” KPA head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero told the Star yesterday.
KRA , Kebs and other government agencies traditionally call for full verification after suspicious results during scanning. Importers with history of contrabands also have their containers stripped to curb tax evasion and illegal imports.
According to KPA, an average 200 to 300 containers are verified everyday.
“It depends with the government agencies. It can be more or less,” Masinde said.
The Shippers Council of Eastern Africa(SCEA) has written to KPA managing director Daniel Manduku expressing displeasure in the manner in which the directive was issued, without consultation and notice to stakeholders.
“The introduction of verification fee is not only uncalled for but not practical,” SCEA chief executive Gilbert Langat said.
He said teams used ti strip the containers are paid on average Sh2,000 per container , which is way below what customers are being charged.
Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) said KPA acted in a rush which will push up the cost of doing business.
The association which represents more than 1,000 clearing firms said its members were not consulted and threatened to boycott of cargo clearing until the matter is resolved.
“How do you just wake up and start charging people something that has not been communicated. The right procedure must be followed,” Kifwa national chairman Roy Mwanthi said, “ We will not accept any shortcuts.”
Mwanthi said KPA should issue a 30-days notice and consult port stakeholders before implementing the new tariff.
Though KPA has agreed to issue a notice today, it insists the charges remain.
A strike by clearing agents would paralyse port operations mainly at the Nairobi ICD, which receives at least 900 containers every day via the Standard Gauge Railway from the Port of Mombasa.
Importers most affected by verification include small traders who bring in consolidated cargo.
Kebs has contracted independent firms to conduct pre-export verification, where certificates of conformity to standards are issued at the point of origin. However, suspicious cargo is subjected to full verification.
