From 22nd to 26th August 2022, the WCO conducted a capacity building mission to Nairobi, Kenya, to support the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) ongoing Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme. The mission objective was to build the necessary internal capacity of KRA’s AEO Programme, regarding effective validation of the AEO Security criteria in line with the SAFE Framework of Standards and Article 7.7 of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The mission was delivered in the framework of the “Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization Programme for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Sida-WCO TFCM Programme) support, with funding from the Government of Sweden.

The hands-on training programme benefitted 20 KRA staff from  Customs and Border Control, including AEO, Post Clearance Audit (PCA), Risk Management, Trade Facilitation, and Stakeholders Engagement Units; and was facilitated by WCO Accredited AEO experts from the Uganda Revenue Authority and WCO Pre-Accredited Expert from South African Revenue Services. The mission included field visits to the premises of two Economic Operators (one accredited AEO and the other - an applicant) to provide insights to KRA staff on the supply chain interests of Economic Operators and the importance for continuous improvement in the level of internal capacity building for KRA.

The mission reviewed the current state of play in AEO implementation and noted the progress made by KRA including the accreditation of 308 traders. The mission recognized the specific security requirements for different business groups in Kenya including Transporters, Importers and Experts, Clearing and Forwarding Agents. The mission capacitated KRA AEO validators and related teams to be able to adopt a flexible and customized approach to AEO documentation, including Application and Self-Assessment Questionnaire, validation scoring guides for applicants as well as risk assessment. The mission noted that the AEO standards and documentation should be attuned to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

In the opening speech, Mrs Josephine Munyasi, Deputy Commissioner, on behalf of the Commissioner of Customs and Border Control, thanked the WCO for the capacity building support provided to the KRA under the Sida-WCO TFCM Programme and recalled that the mission was a follow-up to the recommendations of the WCO Mercator Programme conducted in May 2022. She asked the Sida WCO TFCM Programme to provide continuous capacity building for the KRA to attain the level of maturity required for full implementation of the WTO TFA Article 7.7.

For further enquiries on Sida-WCO TFCM Programme support, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org