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 has signed the Transhipment SOPs for the Port of Mombasa with the Kenya Ports Authority and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association.
At the signing ceremony at the KPA Headquarters in Mombasa on in May, the KRA customs and border control commissioner, Mr Kevin Safari, accompanied by KPA general manager, operations Captain William Ruto, and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association CEO Mr Juma Ali Tellah described the formulation of the Transhipment SOPs as a key milestone for the shipping stakeholders. The adoption of a bidding SOPs, they explained, will play a key role in raising efficiency levels at the port.
The SOPs have been developed to international standards and will enhance the transhipment process by removing process bottlenecks that have previously occasioned cargo clearance delays.
It is expected that inter-agency relations at the Port will be streamlined with clear performance targets and processes. They give clear timelines to each party and also emphasise the provision of adequate resources to clear transhipment cargo expeditiously.
Mombasa Port handled 12,189 TEUs in transhipment in April, an increase of only 2% from April 2018. This is expected to increase rapidly in future with the implementation of the SOPs.
