Kenyan govt defends new duty on second hand clothes

15 Feb '12

2 min read

The Government of Kenya has defended the revised duty on import of second hand clothes. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said the new duty was agreed on at a meeting between the traders and the tax collector in December 2011.

The duty on import of second hand clothing was increased from the earlier 1.1 million shillings per container to the present 1.9 million shillings per container after the meeting.

Traders are now complaining that the increased duty is very high and are urging the KRA to reduce the duty to protect their businesses.

KRA said the issue presently being raised by the traders that the import duty is high, was earlier raised by Gikomba wholesalers. The issue was addressed through a formal agreement, it added.

Wambui Namu, the Commissioner of Customs, said KRA has always taken measures to remove weaknesses in tax collection process and to enhance revenue collection.

In a statement, the Commissioner said the KRA identified second hand clothing as an item that is susceptible to undervaluation by importers.

She said that an extensive market survey was conducted, which established that second hand imported clothing was grossly undervalued in Kenya, in comparison to prices prevailing in their supply markets.

Subsequently, a consensus was arrived at on customs valuation and a benchmark value was also agreed for customs declaration purposes at the meeting with Gikomba wholesalers in December, 2011, she said.

The consensus was formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and there has been compliance with the same by large number of second hand clothing dealers. In some cases, there has also been an increase in tax collection, the statement said.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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