Kenyan clearing agents have challenged $350 (Ksh46,075) charged per container of all cargo destined for South Sudan.
They claim that the Mombasa Monitoring Station-National Revenue Authority of South Sudan issued a directive that they should pay the fees to a private company in Uganda— Invesco Uganda Limited— for a tracking system christened Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN).
In a petition filed at the High Court in Mombasa, the clearing agents under the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) say they are licensed by the Commissioner of Customs in Kenya to clear cargo and collect taxes and levies.
“As clearing agents, we operate under Kenyan laws and the East Africa Community Customs Management Act and the regulations made thereunder,” part of the petition states.
Kifwa wants a declaration that the levy per unit to all imports headed to South Sudan is unconstitutional.
It also seeks an order issued to quash the directive and prohibit the Mombasa Monitoring Station-National Revenue Authority of South Sudan from enforcing the directive.
