Kenya's new Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) system could increase compliance costs and operational risks for South African exporters and freight forwarders, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expected to face the greatest challenges when the rules take effect on August 3.
The South African Freight and Logistics Association (Safla) has warned that the digital pre-arrival declaration system shifts compliance requirements to exporters and forwarders before cargo is loaded at the port of origin, exposing businesses to additional costs if documentation is delayed or rejected.
Under the new rules, all containerised cargo destined for Kenya must be declared through the Kenya Revenue Authority's (KRA) digital platform before loading. The system is intended to identify security risks before cargo arrives in the country.
Readiness across the freight sector varied considerably, Safla vice chairperson Jonathan McDonald said.
"Larger forwarders with established compliance teams are likely to adapt more readily, while SME forwarders and occasional exporters face greater awareness, registration and process risks," he said.
"These smaller operators also have less capacity to absorb a missed sailing, a rejected submission or an unexpected additional charge."
Because the KRA portal requires declarations to be validated at least five days before a vessel's arrival, Safla has urged affected businesses to register and test the system as soon as possible rather than waiting for shipping line cut-off dates.
McDonald said uncertainty remained over how the system would apply to less-than-container-load (LCL) shipments, where multiple consignments are consolidated into a single container.
"This is a legitimate concern, but the current public guidance does not yet explain precisely how ACD compliance will be applied between master and house bills of lading in groupage traffic," he said.
"Operationally, one non-compliant underlying consignment could therefore delay finalisation of the consolidation or cause the container to be rolled. However, it would be premature to state categorically that KRA or the shipping line must refuse the entire container in every case."
To minimise disruption, Safla has advised consolidators to introduce internal ACD submission deadlines well ahead of carrier cut-off times and to clearly define responsibilities for preparing declarations, verifying documentation and covering any additional costs arising from non-compliance.
Liability for delays would depend on contractual arrangements and the cause of the failure, McDonald said.
"The exporter or shipper will generally carry the first-line commercial exposure where the required documents or information were late, inaccurate or incomplete," he said.
Forwarders could also face liability if they fail to submit declarations correctly on behalf of clients.
"Before loading, the more likely costs are rollover charges, bill of lading amendment fees, origin storage and container detention rather than destination-port demurrage," McDonald said.
