Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda will no longer have to contend with tax evasion or dumping of goods in the Kenyan market as the three countries will start monitoring cargo movement in real time from the port of Mombasa.
The Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) will be implemented by Malaysian firm, BSmart.
After a successful pilot by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the system will be implanted in January and not June as a result of delayed negotiations. It is expected that the system will seal loopholes that lead to revenue loss because of under-declaration of the exact value of exports by traders.
“On implementation, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will jointly attach electronic seals onto cargo at Mombasa.
The implication is that goods cannot disappear in anyone’s territory. We will have rapid response teams to intervene swiftly,” URA said in a statement on its website.
The tracking system entails specific electronic seals, a monitoring centre and satellites that are fitted on trucks and cargo containers to give the exact location of the goods in real time. In case of a diversion from the agreed route, a very long stop over or an unauthorized opening of a container an alarm will be triggered.
“The system is going live on December 30 this year. The KRA will not acquire another system. The upgraded URA ECTS will be extended to Mombasa as per the MOU between the KRA and URA,” the taxman said.