NAIROBI: The Kenya Revenue Authority has been sued over a new directive that requires importers to acquire a certificate of conformity before the goods are offloaded. In an urgent application filed at the High Court yesterday, political activist Okiya Omtatah accuses the KRA of imposing the new rule unconstitutionally.
In a notice published on December 29 to Sea and Air Cargo Carriers, the KRA banned importation of goods that do not have a certificate of conformity issued by agents appointed by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. The pre-export verification of conformity to standards is to cover all imports with effect from January 1.
The KRA said goods that will not have adhered to the new rule shall not be offloaded and will be consigned back to the country of origin at the carrier’s cost. Omtatah says, however, the directives are illegal, as they are based on a legal notice that was repealed in July last year.
