The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has tightened regulations on the importation of second-hand cars in a bid to curb increasing cases of stolen or cloned vehicles entering the country.
The standards body expressed concern over the increasing importation of stolen vehicles despite a Pre-Verification of Conformity (PVOC) inspection.
Kebs said export vehicle dealers have invented various ways, including using different routes to evade vehicle inspection and exploiting loopholes in import laws to bring in stolen or over-aged vehicles.
Under the new rules, importers must have an Interpol clearance certificate, among other requirements, apart from a Certificate of Roadworthiness (CoR) issued by Quality Inspection Services Japan (QISJ).
Kebs Executive Director Esther Ngari noted with concern the increasing number of vehicles from Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa that are imported into the country for destination inspection without having undergone pre-inspection and without genuine logbooks from the last country of registration.
Ms Ngari said some of the vehicles were found to be stolen and/or more than eight years old, contrary to the requirements of the Code of Practice for Inspection of Road Vehicles.
Car buyers hit by 35pc import duty
“Kebs wishes to inform all stakeholders and the public that QISJ has been contracted to provide PVoC services for used motor vehicles, mobile equipment and used motor vehicle spare parts in the six countries with effect from August 19, 2022. Among other things, QISJ will be responsible for verifying the year of first registration and confirming the ownership of the vehicle,” Kebs said in a notice to the public.
As a result of the increasing number of such cases, Kebs will not allow any imported motor vehicle without CoRs issued by QISJ and must be accompanied by the Interpol clearance, logbook and/or certificate of deregistration from the last country of registration and export documents from the country of origin.
According to the motor vehicle importation regulations, failure to comply with the orders would result in a fee of five per cent of the approved customs value of the product, as stipulated in Legal Notice No. 78 of 2020.
“A product subject to this regulation that arrives at a port of entry without a certificate of conformity, certificate of inspection or certificate of roadworthiness shall be subject to a destination inspection with a fee equal to five per cent of the approved customs value of the product,” reads part of the legal notice.
The new guidelines come a few days after the interception in Mombasa of three high-end cars stolen from the UK.
Car dealers are said to have exploited loopholes in import laws to smuggle stolen high-end cars from Europe into Kenya.
In the most recent case, three high-end stolen or cloned vehicles were intercepted at various points of entry before reaching the Kenyan market.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations describes car cloning as “stealing the identity of a legitimately owned vehicle and slapping it onto a stolen car”. It starts with a stolen vehicle, where the VIN number is replaced with that of a vehicle of a similar make and model registered elsewhere.
Dealers are now using the United Arab Emirates route to avoid inspection, as three vehicles identified as stolen in the UK were intercepted before entering the Kenyan market.
The vehicle in question, a Range Rover HSE 4X4 model with chassis number SALGA2AEXLA400687, was intercepted during a routine check at the Regional Logistics Centre Container Freight Station in Mombasa.
