Secondhand Car Importers To Pay Ksh 2000 For Pest Inspection

Kenyans importing secondhand cars will be forced to pay 2000 shillings for the inspection of each unit for pests. The government says the move is tailored towards stopping importers from importing foreign pests into the country.

Minibusses will pay 3,000 shillings. Buses, lorries, and trucks will have to part with 5,000 shillings while heavy commercial machinery will pay 10,000 shillings. This is set to hit hard on car importers who are already complaining of the high cost of doing business.

Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) says imports of used vehicles and equipment still present a major threat of introducing pests or diseases, necessitating the publication of new regulations.

“The Plant Protection (Decontamination of Used Vehicles, Machinery and Equipment) Rules 2021 were therefore developed to provide a legal framework for mitigation of the risks associated with this pathway,” Kephis managing director Theophilus Mutui wrote to importers of used vehicles on May 6.

Used car dealers are opposed to the inspection fee, asking Kephis to first demonstrate the level of threat posed by used vehicle imports. “Kephis needs to show evidence of the threats they are describing,” said Charles Munyori, the secretary-general of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association.

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The government has been targeting secondhand car importers in an effort to discourage them from importing old cars into the country. The importers say the onslaught by the government has made the cost of doing business unbearable.

The government rolled out an excise duty on goods including secondhand cars. The implementation of the new tax on the imported secondhand cars really affected the business for those who buy and sell used cars.

The excise duty increased the price of small secondhand vehicles but interestingly cut the cost of luxurious cars by a total of up to 1.27 million shillings.

At the moment, according to the new law, the duty on a small Toyota Vitz increased by 92 percent from 180,069 shillings to 345,842 shillings.