The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) is a statutory body of the Kenyan government responsible for the development and implementation of standards for imported and domestically produced products for the Kenyan market. According to the notice issued by KEBS, the PVoC contract, which was previously in place for product conformity assessment, expires on 31 March 2022 and all current PVoC service providers SGS, BV, CCIC, Intertek, Cotecna will no longer accept new applications.
Certification required for import clearance in Kenya
KEBS started the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity to Standards (PVoC) scheme on 29 September 2005. This is a commodity-specific conformity assessment and verification process applicable to each exporting country to ensure that the quality of imported products and the health and safety of Kenyans and environmental protection comply with Kenyan technical regulations and mandatory standards or their approved equivalents.
All goods in the PVoC catalogue must obtain a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) issued by an authorized KEBS agency prior to shipment. The CoC is a mandatory Kenyan customs clearance document without which goods will be refused entry upon arrival at Kenyan ports. In exceptional cases where there is no CoC, KEBS may decide to inspect the consignment and impose a penalty as an exception. KEBS may accept the importer's application to carry out an inspection at the Kenyan port of arrival, but the importer will be liable for a 15% penalty on the value of the CIF shipment, a 15% bond and the cost of inspection and testing.
PVoC includes the following key elements:
--Pre-shipment inspection of the goods.
--Sampling, testing and analysis in an authorised laboratory.
--Review of the product manufacturing process.
--Documentation review.
New requirements for customs clearance certification after the expiry of PVoC
After the expiry of the PVoC contract for the product conformity assessment scheme, applications submitted before 31 March will continue to be subject to documentary audit, inspection and certification services, and will be cleared at the port of destination by the end of April. ALL products (General Goods) shipped on board on or after 1st April 2022 will be subjected to destination inspection at a fee equivalent to 0.6% of the approved customs value subject to a minimum of USD 265 and a maximum of USD 2700 exclusive of testing charges. Testing charges shall be paid on a case-by-case basis. These is the same fees that would have been charged had the goods been subjected to inspection in the country of exportation by the PVoC agents.
The inspection of imported goods is limited to the port of arrival, which for Kenyan importers not only increases the uncertainty of customs clearance but also causes delays in the entry of goods into the port.
The following points need to be carefully interpreted by Kenyan importers in order to avoid delays in customs clearance:
1. Destination inspection is undertaken on a risk-based approach where consignments are categorized into Options 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each option, as set out in the destination inspection manual, has specific documentation required for the purpose of clearance. For more details, download the Destination Inspection Manual from the KEBS website(www.kebs.org).
2. Previously issuance of Local COC sometimes would take between 14 days to 21 days. KEBS timelines for issuance of local CoC will be 2 hours for Air Cargo and 2 days for Sea Cargo unless a sample from a consignment has been drawn for analysis.
3. The approved customs value is the value of the goods declared in the customs entry approved by the customs authorities.
4. Payments will be done at destination (i.e. upon cargo arrival at the Port of Entry) and this shall be in Kenya Shillings. The invoices (for testing charges) and demand notes (for destination inspection fees), with KEBS Bank Details, will be issued to importers at the port of entry for payment purposes.
5. After inspection, the KEBS consignment document (KEBS CD) generated by the client at the time of clearance is deemed as the KEBS local COC.
6. After inspection, if the goods do not meet KEBS standards, you either reship or they will be destroyed at your own cost.
How importers can successfully apply for a CoC
At present, Kenyan importers can only obtain a CoC through on-site inspection at the port of destination, and the following suggestions will help to facilitate faster customs clearance at the port of destination.
1. Fill in this application form and its enclosures truthfully, correctly and completely, including the relevant HS code, ICS code and other information.
2. Goods accompanied with acceptable test reports (those from ISO/IEC 17025 accredited labs and/or Government-owned or designated laboratories) may not undergo testing at the destination. However, these test reports must be traceable to the batches in the shipment
3. Exporters/ Importers are encouraged to test their products in an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory for purposes of confirming compliance with the requirements of the relevant Kenya Standards before shipping them to Kenya.
4. Importers are advised to avail quality documents prior to the arrival of consignments for review by KEBS officers.
The destination inspection process is currently temporary as KEBS is in the process of signing a new three (3) year PVoC contract cycle. KEBS will inform the public when the new inspection company starts conducting inspections under the PVoC scheme. However, destination inspection is currently a necessary process to obtain a CoC for general cargo, so to avoid customs clearance problems or loss of cargo, Kenyan importers need to take this issue seriously.