Companies who depend on importing raw materials or finished goods must constantly deal with Kenyan Customs and other government agencies. It is an unavoidable part of doing business. It is important to understand the varied legal and practical issues that must be resolved to make any import operation successful.

 

Companies that import goods into Kenya face a continually evolving regulatory arena. Beyond simple classification, marking, and valuation issues, importers must contend with focused assessments, amendments, and changes to the East African Community Customs Management Act EACCMA 2004, expanding African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the ongoing modernization and digitization of entry procedures.

 

The Customs Law and Compliance component of our Practice advises importers on every aspect of the importation process. We represent clients before local port officials, at the Kenya Revenue Authority`s Customs and Border Control offices and before the KRA Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT).

 

We recognize that KRA is not the only agency regulating imports, and that proper coordination between KRA and other government agencies is critical to successful importation. Accordingly, we liaise with agencies as diverse as the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade), Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development in ensuring our clients' entries proceed smoothly.

 

Our Practice provides the full range of customs compliance-related services, including:

• Classification, country of origin, and valuation assessments.

• Guiding clients through focused assessments.

• Developing customs compliance programs.

• Preparing successful prior disclosures and protests.

• Advice on certification and compliance.

• Assisting with multi-agency import permits and licenses.

• Securing additional statistical tariff breakouts.

• Litigation in the Courts and Tribunals; and

• Analysing proposed transactions for compliance with the full range of Kenyan import laws.

 

Otiang`a Owiti & Company Advocates (OO&Co.) is continually expanding its expertise in a range of import issues, from reducing overall costs through multi-country sourcing to ensuring protection for intellectual property in the import context.

 

 

Charles Otiang`a Owiti who is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and has extensive experience within the Logistics, Shipping and Airline industries represents clients on a wide variety of customs issues under both Kenya and foreign law.

 

We have a Proactive Legal Practice as it is always said that prevention is better than cure.

 

Thus, we often practice “preventive medicine” in our proactive legal practice approach by alerting you to the requirements you as an importer must meet sensitizing you to the issues that can be expected to arise during the course of your import program.

 

If we come in after an import operation is well underway or after the company finds itself facing a substantial problem, we minimize exposure by, as necessary:

• Getting the import program up to legal standards.

• Reviewing the program to ensure that no more than the minimum appropriate duties have been paid.

• Contesting penalty actions.

• Preparing for a Customs audit.

• Recovering excess duties paid.

• Minimizing the Impact of Compliance

We endeavour to settle matters with Customs as quickly as possible, provided the settlement is in the best interests of our client. If you regularly import, you can expect that issues will arise. Some can be anticipated; some will be unexpected. We handle both. We enable you to run your import program in a manner consistent with the requirements yet tailored to your needs so that compliance minimally impacts on the manner business is currently being conducted.

 

Where the laws of importing jurisdictions allow this, we use our customs policy know-how to devise comprehensive strategies aimed at improving customs tariff treatment of your product. With our background of experience and extensive current network we pursue a legislative tariff change or a favourable ruling by customs authorities and achieve your desired outcomes.