The regional electronic cargo tracking system which will be operational at the end of this month.
It will enable KRA to monitor movement of goods cleared from Mombasa port even after they cross into Uganda and Rwanda.
The electronic cargo tracking system should be adopted and expanded to cover the whole region, including Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan.
Kenya’s decision to launch a common cargo tracking system with its two landlocked trade partners was long overdue.
The system should have been set up the same day Rwanda and Uganda moved their customs officers into Kenya.
The regional electronic cargo tracking system which will be operational at the end of this month will enable the Kenya Revenue Authority to monitor movement of goods cleared from Mombasa port even after they cross into Uganda and Rwanda.
Otherwise, tax evasion and cargo dumping have been the bane of the much celebrated Single Customs Territory (SCT) that the three states launched a few years ago.
The SCT was meant to speed up clearance by ensuring that customs procedures are all completed at the point of entry.
Implicit in the arrangement was trust, the thinking that officials representing national institutions would be able to discharge their responsibilities honestly in the absence of any form of oversighting.
Frequent claims of collusion and dumping belie all that.
Yet fear of losing customs revenue is the reason most countries have been reluctant to integrate their economies with neighbours’.
Time for mischief is over. As new members continue to join the regional bloc, the electronic cargo tracking system should be adopted and expanded to cover the whole region, including Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
