The officials said 483 containers of the goods that have been held at the port of Mombasa will be disposed of within two weeks.
Only the containers that are under scrutiny by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will be preserved.
The government gave an amnesty for the small and medium traders who presented containers that they thought were not moving or being processed.
Small traders have lost their bid to save Sh12 billion worth of imports held at various entry ports as a team of government agencies formed to find ways of taming illicit trade announces a plan to auction the cargo.
The officials said 483 containers of the goods that have been held at the port of Mombasa will be disposed of within two weeks.
The multi-agency team on illicit trade told Parliament on Thursday that only the containers that are under scrutiny by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will be preserved.
Wanyama Musiambu, who chairs the enforcement team said, so far, 101 containers that have been released by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), 17 have no owners while 28 have been released but have issues with the DCI.
“Where there are no issues-like the investigations, in the next two weeks from today we shall not be talking about the 483 containers belonging to the small and medium size traders,” he told the National Assembly Trade, Industry and Co-operatives committee.
Traders who have grouped themselves as Nairobi Importers and Small Traders Association (NISTA), had earlier breathed a sigh of relief when President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to waive storage costs and have their goods released immediately.
The government team which draws representation from the KRA, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Anti-Counterfeit Agency, the National National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Energy Regulatory Commission, Weights and Measures, among others, started work on May 11.
Address illicit trade
Its core mandate is to address illicit trade in the country, following complaints from traders that the local market is flooded with substandard, undervalued and counterfeit products.
The government gave an amnesty for the small and medium traders who presented containers that they thought were not moving or being processed.
“A total of 483 containers were presented and the government gave various types of waivers to the traders, including a 15 per cent discount of the Kebs inspection fee,” said Mr Musiambu.
Starehe MP Charles Njagua petitioned Parliament on behalf of the small and medium traders in Nairobi to look into allegations of harassment from government agencies.
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