Weak customs desk blamed for fake goods influx

Weak verification of goods at points of entry has given unscrupulous traders a field day to flood Kenya with counterfeits, an industrialist has said.

At the same time, the taxman has reiterated that a weak customs desk was contributing to the influx of the fakes that the East African Business Council recently estimated were valued at Sh180 billion in the region.

The Kenya Revenue Authority’s commissioner in charge of investigations, Mr Joseph Nduati, said stopping counterfeits at the port was a big challenge.

He said: “Sometimes there is inability by the customs officers in detecting counterfeit goods.” Mr Nduati said KRA was now working closely with manufacturers to help them in identifying the counterfeits.

Haco Industries managing director Polycarp Igathe raised concern that KRA was not able to “carry out 100 per cent verification of goods arriving in Mombasa due to logistical constraints.”

At the port of Mombasa, a cartel made up of warehouses, wholesalers and middlemen, uses known clearing agents to allow goods in, said Mr Igathe.

The agents, who rely on importers’ documents, do not have the capacity to establish the contents of the containers.

The taxman only subjects imported goods to “100 per cent verification” on suspecting undervaluation to establish content, said KRA commissioner in charge of communication in the Southern region, Ms Fatma Yusuf, in a recent interview.

It is easy to detect some counterfeit goods such as cigarettes, Mr Nduati said, but others can only be picked out by manufacturers.

KRA profiles importers and clearing agents as a way of controlling what is coming into the country.

Mr Gerald Kagumo, the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association chairman, said some importers collude with clearing agents and customs officials to pass the fakes.

This year, the taxman has seized two 40- foot containers with cigarettes with a tax liability of over Sh50 million.

Cigarettes are charged an import duty of 25 per cent.