The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has signed a Transhipment Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) charter with stakeholders at the port of Mombasa to enhance cargo clearance efficiency and boost regional trade.
As part of a commitment to boost port operations and clear bottlenecks affecting efficient cargo movement, KRA signed the Transhipment SOPs for the Port of Mombasa with the Kenya Ports Authority and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association.
The signing ceremony was held at the KPA headquarters, Mombasa on Friday, 17th May 2019. Present during the ceremony were; KRA Customs and Border Control Commissioner, Mr. Kevin Safari, KPA General Manager, Operations Captain William Ruto and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association CEO Mr. Juma Ali Tellah.
The team described the agreement as a key milestone for the shipping stakeholders, the adoption of a binding SOPs, they explained will play a key role in raising efficiency levels at the port of Mombasa.
The SOPs have been developed to international standards and will enhance the transhipment process by removing bottlenecks that have previously occasioned cargo clearance delays. The SOP also lifts the ban on home to pier transhipments.
It is expected that inter-agency relations at the Port of Mombasa will be streamlined with clear performance targets and processes. The agreement provides clear timelines to each party and emphasizes the provision of adequate resources to clear transhipment cargo expeditiously.
Mombasa Port handled 12,189 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in transhipment in April 2019, an increase of only 2 per cent from April 2018. This is expected to increase rapidly in future with the implementation of the SOPs.
