KenTrade seeks Parliament’s sanction on crucial Bill

By Remie Otieno

Trade and cross-border facilitation agency, Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) is seeking Parliament’s sanction for the passage of a crucial Bill – which if endorsed, will see the agency operate autonomously without exchequer’s funding.

The agency’s Chairman Mugambi Imanyara says a full implementation of the National Electronic Single Window System Bill, 2021, would also help curb fraud and exploitation in the logistics coordination system often faced by importers and exporters using the platform.

“We are still at the benchmarking stages of this Bill, upon which lawful procedures will be followed to have it debated on the floor of the Parliament. Engagements on the same are already underway, so hopefully in the next one and a half months it should be ready for tabling,” said Mr. Imanyara during a media briefing.

The Bill seeks to, among other issues, simplify and synchronize processing of data, enable the standardization of documents and single decision-making for customs release and clearance as well as facilitate electronic transactions in trade as well as reduce legal and operational barriers to electronic transactions.

“The System shall serve as a single entry point and platform for any person involved in trade and transport to lodge documents electronically including import or export documents for processing and approval and facilitate the electronic payment for fees and levies, due to the Government, on goods imported or exported for transactions submitted through the System,” reads in part the provision in the Bill.

KenTrade runs the online cargo clearing system (logistics coordination platform) which provides information to all the players on the real-time location of their cargo while on transit.

The agency is also introducing more online platforms to reduce paperwork, including an upgrade of its Trade Facilitation Platform (TFP) program expected to go live by the end of the month.

Through its logistics directory platform for instance, the directory lists all players in the logistics sector, detailing products and services, as well as prices where applicable and their contacts – but certain traders are exploiting the existing gaps according to the firm’s chief executive Amos Wangora.

“Gaps still exist in the import, export and transit processes beyond the compliance requirements automated through the TradeNet environment, and that is why we are consistently upgrading our systems as we aim to close on those loopholes,” said Wangora.

The system has over 16,000 users, registered with 42 stakeholder organisations including 38 partner government agencies (PGA’s) drawn from both public and private sectors.

The system has also been fully integrated into the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS).

This integration and roll out of the cargo release module implies Kenya has moved closer to achieving a paperless clearing process as the agency now does not require the submission of any hard copy documents for stamping before release of cargo.

New upgrades by KenTrade also means that Government agencies can now release all consignments online and in turn allow customs to release the same – with the system upgrade also expected to meet new trends in online trade transactions.

The agency spends hundreds of millions of shillings annually to service its infrastructure systems with the help of a Singaporean firm it signed a 6-year contract deal.