Economy

KRA to auction overstayed imports after amnesty ends

TIMES

Kenya Revenue Authority head office at Times Tower in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will auction overstayed containers at the port of Mombasa on June 14 in a move expected to clear unclaimed goods, regional manager Nocholas Kinoti said Tuesday.

The goods set for auction range from kitchenware to tyres, used motor vehicles and sugar. There are also 4,800 bags of Pakistan rice that are slated for the auction, according to a notice the KRA published in the Kenya Gazette on April 19.

Despite an amnesty announced three months ago which expired on May 12, importers have not claimed their goods as expected, Mr Kinoti said.

“We are going to auction all overstayed containers and will hold these auctions regularly. We don’t want importers to keep cargo at the port,” he said.

A 60-day waiver for cargo that was imported before November 2014 was given but few containers had been collected by the time it expired.

According to data from the KRA, only 56 containers and 163 vehicles were cleared during the amnesty period.

“Most of the unclaimed cargo was purported to be transit and we suspect that these goods were not genuinely transit but was a ploy to dump them in the local market,” Mr Kinoti said, adding that they had started cleaning up the warehouse that importers have been using as storage.

Importers have been taking undue advantage of the 21 days and the customs 60-day period given before the goods are auctioned as they source funds to clear them, Mr Kinoti noted.

There were plans to reduce the number of days allowed to clear cargo at the port to discourage importers from abandoning their goods. Currently, the KRA allows a free period of 21 days after which the goods are transferred to a customs warehouse where they attract storage charges.

“Cargo owners have also not been keen on collecting goods once they are taken to the customs warehouse because the storage charges are too low. The charges are not punitive enough and we have proposed that they should be increased to discourage importers from keep their cargo here,” he said.

Among other reforms that will streamline operations at the customs warehouse include reduction of the free days from 21 to 14, he added.

Some unscrupulous importers don’t clear their goods but wait until they are listed for auction after which they enter into deals on how to evade tax and clear them.

“Leaving cargo at the port is common with rogue importers who after the goods are entered into the auction list, collude with some corrupt KRA officials to evade tax,” said Peter Mambembe of the Association of Importers of Kenya.