With public notice dated 13 June 2019, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) communicates the commencement of implementation of the new IT Customs Management System, called “Integrated Customs Management System” (iCMS) at the Port of Mombasa, the Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDN) and the other land border customs offices of the country. The iCMS system is expected to cut clearance time for imports and exports by at least 60 per cent, through the elimination of bureaucratic processes at the ports and land borders, the automation of manual and semi-manual processes and less system breakdowns. Customs procedures will also benefit from less paperwork, with considerable savings for businesses.

The iCMS replaces the previous Simba system, adopted in 2005, which ran on a multiplicity of sub-systems and required multiple points of authentication for users. Differently from Simba, iCMS enables KRA to receive declarations of goods before ships dock at the port, so reducing the time taken to clear goods because of the anticipation of the risk analysis before consignments arrive at the port.

According to a Report published by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in 2017, almost 2 thirds of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) currently use to outsource the management of customs formalities to external service providers, in this proportion: a) logistics and delivery service providers: 25%; b) customs brokers: 16%; c) e-commerce platforms: 9%.

The percentage of companies completing customs procedures on their own is only 40%. This proves that the role of customs agents acting as middlemen between Customs and traders is crucial in facilitating trade.