Kenya has started afresh a push to harmonise and standardise the region’s cargo clearance platform known as the single window system.

Other East African Community members have been slow in adopting the system, forcing Kenya to look for ways of hastening the process.

“We have had a meeting with donors and are trying to come up with an agreement with the EAC on when all countries should have a single window system,” Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) general manager for operations Amos Wangora said.

Presidents of member states in November last year agreed that the platform was to be fully harmonised on July 1, 2014.

However, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi are way behind the agreed time.

Kenya has, however, integrated its imports processes to the platform and is working on doing the same to exports.

“Ethiopia restarted the process of aligning its custom processes to the new system, Tanzania is reluctant to begin while Rwanda and Burundi are trying to enhance an old custom system to the single window system,” Mr Wangora said on Tuesday.

Kenya alone could save an estimated Sh23 billion per year blamed on fraudulent cargo deals and time wastage at the Port of Mombasa.

Source: Daily Nation

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