Kenya Revenue Authority to end its own e-seals for dry cargo and vehicles on 26 October

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will stop operating its own electronic seals on dry cargo and motor vehicles on 26 October, after which goods under customs control can be monitored only with devices from approved private vendors, the authority said in a public notice dated 16 October.

The notice, signed by the Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, says the Multi-Vendor User-Owned Framework of the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) starts on the same day. It is addressed to importers, exporters, clearing and forwarding agents, transporters, bonded warehouse operators and Partner States.

KRA's electronic seals for dry cargo and motor vehicle units "shall cease to be in operation" from 26 October. The seals KRA owns for wet cargo, known as e-fuel seals, will be "progressively phased out". The notice gives no end date for them.

Under the new framework, users deal directly with vendors. The notice says it "shall be based on private commercial agreement between the approved Vendors and users". An earlier KRA notice, dated 11 September, said users are free to select any approved vendor and that KRA had approved 15 vendors.

The list of approved vendors is on the KRA website, www.kra.go.ke. It can also be requested by email at [email protected], or in person from the Cargo Monitoring Unit on the 13th floor of Times Tower in Nairobi, or at any Customs office.

KRA invited vendors to apply in a pre-qualification notice dated 17 March, which said the framework was for the EAC RECTS. It described the scheme as self-financing: approved vendors own and maintain the seals and answer to KRA for their performance and integrity. Initial approval lasts two years and is subject to review.

The notice set minimum requirements. A vendor had to be a registered company holding a Communications Authority of Kenya licence for electronic tracking equipment, with three years of audited accounts. It also needed experience of running vehicle or cargo tracking operations of at least 1,000 units, workshops in the East African Community able to service the seals, and at least 1,000 fully operational seals in stock at all times.

News website Kenyans.co.ke reported on 11 September that the change followed persistent long queues and costly delays for transporters and cargo operators caused by shortages of government-owned electronic tracking seals, and that KRA said the model aimed to ease congestion at the Port of Mombasa. The Standard reported on 15 September that KRA said the framework would support port decongestion, widen access to the seals and protect government revenue. The newspaper describes electronic seals as devices that track and secure goods during transport and give immediate information on the status of the cargo.

The Star reported on 16 October that the shift was expected to require affected businesses to make arrangements with approved providers ahead of the 26 October deadline to avoid disruption.