The Weekly Vision Business Desk
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has revised upwards the Customs Minimum Benchmark applied to general containerised consolidation cargo, lifting the reference figure from KSh2.5 million to KSh3.2 million with effect from 20th August 2026.
The adjustment, according to KRA, closes out a transitional period that followed extensive consultations with the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA), small-trader representatives, cargo consolidators and other private-sector stakeholders. The Authority says the review was intended to produce a more predictable and equitable customs valuation framework while curbing the misuse of consolidation arrangements by some importers.
Consolidated cargo has long been a flashpoint between KRA and the small-trader community that relies on it to import goods affordably by pooling shipments into a single container. The KSh2.5 million figure being replaced was itself the product of earlier engagements between small traders and government, with an understanding that it would be reviewed upward after a year. That review never happened, and KRA says the benchmark sat untouched for roughly six years even as import values and economic conditions shifted, eroding its usefulness as a customs administration tool.
Notably, this is not the first time KRA has had to defend its valuation approach to consolidated cargo publicly. In a media response dated 6th March 2023, the Authority was compelled to deny claims that it had begun charging consolidated cargo per transaction rather than at the previously understood rate of Sh200 per kilogramme. In that earlier statement, KRA invoked Kenya’s obligations under the World Trade Organisation’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and pointed to its use of minimum test yields in assessing imports as tools to forestall tax evasion and unfair competition, the same underlying rationale it now cites for the revised KSh3.2 million benchmark. Read together, the two statements point to a sustained, multi-year campaign by KRA to tighten valuation controls around cargo consolidation, an arrangement it regards as persistently vulnerable to abuse.
The Authority was at pains to stress that the new figure is a floor rather than a cap. “The KSh3.2 million benchmark does not mean that every container is valued at KSh3.2 million. If the actual value of the goods is higher, that value must be declared and the correct taxes paid,” KRA stated, adding that importers whose consignments exceed the benchmark are required to make accurate declarations and will be subjected to the applicable customs valuation and tariff treatment.
KRA said it had identified recurring instances of undervaluation, under-declaration, misdescription, misclassification and concealment of high-value goods within consolidated shipments, practices it says cause revenue leakage and distort competition by letting non-compliant businesses land goods at artificially low cost. High-value electronics, including smartphones, were cited as a common target, with high-end handsets sometimes declared as cheaper models to reduce the customs value and the tax payable. The Authority also flagged a newer concern: larger importers increasingly folding their shipments into consolidation arrangements designed for small traders, purely to reduce their tax exposure.
KRA was explicit that the measure should not be read as a dispute with small traders. “This is not about targeting small traders. It is about creating a level playing field where businesses compete fairly. A trader who declares goods correctly and pays the taxes due should not be disadvantaged by another trader who gains an unfair cost advantage through undervaluation, under-declaration or concealment of goods,” the Authority said. It further argued that the revised benchmark protects local manufacturers, whose products compete against imports that, when undervalued, enter the Kenyan market at artificially low prices despite the manufacturers themselves complying with domestic tax obligations.
Beyond the port of entry, KRA used the brief to remind traders that customs clearance is only the first leg of their tax obligations. Traders who go on to sell consolidated cargo in markets such as Eastleigh, Kamukunji, Nyamakima and Toy Market must meet applicable domestic tax obligations, including proper business registration, electronic invoicing where applicable, and accurate declaration of income and taxes due.
For importers and consolidators, the immediate implication is a materially higher reference point against which containerised consolidation cargo will be assessed, with knock-on effects for landed costs on goods such as electronics, general merchandise and household items sourced through consolidation channels, costs that are likely to be passed through to traders in markets such as Eastleigh and Kamukunji, and ultimately to consumers.
For compliant importers and local manufacturers who have argued for years that undervalued imports undercut them unfairly, the move represents a long-sought tightening of enforcement. KIFWA and small-trader groups that took part in the consultations are yet to issue a public response to the KSh3.2 million figure itself, and it remains to be seen whether the sector will regard the adjustment as a fair recalibration or, as with the 2023 dispute over per-kilogramme charging, the opening of a fresh round of friction with the taxman.
