KRA: Kenya imports need digital marine cargo insurance certificate from 1 November

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will enforce mandatory Digital Marine Cargo Insurance on all goods imported into Kenya from 1 November 2026, and consignments that fail the requirements will be blocked from clearance, a public notice dated 22 October 2026 says.

The notice, signed by the Commissioner for Customs & Border Control, says KRA is acting together with the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and "following previous notices".

Importers and clearing agents must make sure every consignment is covered by a valid marine cargo insurance policy issued by an IRA-licensed insurer. The insurance certificate must be processed through the Digital MCI System and successfully transmitted to KRA's Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) before a customs declaration is lodged.

The notice does not set a fee or name other penalties. It urges stakeholders to ensure full compliance to prevent trade disruptions and says more details are on the IRA website, ira.go.ke. KRA's address on the notice is Times Tower Building, Haile Selassie Avenue, P.O. Box 48240-00100, Nairobi.

The requirement has had earlier start dates. Law firm Clyde & Co reported on 11 June 2026 that a 2025 KRA and IRA notice set 14 February 2025 for local cover before customs clearance, and that enforcement weakened after technical problems with the system. Business Daily reported on 9 June 2025 that the rollout had slipped to July 2025, with IRA chief executive Godfrey Kiptum citing "system challenges".

On 6 May 2026 Business Daily quoted Kiptum as saying: "The system did not work as expected. It failed us but now everything has been finalised and we are ready for a fresh roll-out." The paper said the new system was built by Safaricom.

Clyde & Co said IRA issued a notice on 22 May 2026 that set 1 July 2026 as the date from which importers must secure marine cargo cover digitally from licensed insurers before customs clearance. Under that process, importers request a certificate through an insurer's portal or another portal connected to IRA's platform, pay the premium through the e-Citizen payment channel, and confirmation of payment goes digitally to iCMS.

Clyde & Co said the Finance Act inserted Section 16A into the Marine Insurance Act, which requires people with an insurable interest in marine cargo to obtain marine cargo insurance. It also pointed to Section 20(4) of the Insurance Act, which makes it an offence to take out insurance from an unlicensed insurer.

Business Daily's May 2026 report gave the size of the market. Marine and transit insurance premiums grew 2.9% to KSh 4.8 billion in 2025, the slowest pace in four years, while Kenya's principal imports were worth KSh 2.772 trillion that year, up from KSh 2.706 trillion in 2024.

The Kenyan news site Kenyans.co.ke reported on 22 October that KRA is phasing out government-owned electronic cargo tracking seals, with the transition to be completed by 26 October, and that operators can choose from authorised private vendors of tracking devices under the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System.