The popular ‘mitumba’ clothing and shoes will also have to get clearance certificates from the Kenya Bureau of Standards/XINHUA FILE
The popular ‘mitumba’ clothing and shoes will also have to get clearance certificates from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
Starting July 20, all consignments of used goods must be inspected and certified in the country of origin and issued with a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) by KEBS appointed inspection agents.
According to KEBS, any consignment of second hand clothing and shoes that does not come with a Certificate of Conformity, with effect from July 20 shall be rejected, seized and destroyed at the importer’s expense.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Legal Notice No. 78 of 15th July 2005, the Verification of Conformity to Kenya Standards Imports Order, we wish to notify all importers of used or second hand clothing and shoes that with effect from July 20, 2015, all consignments of these goods must be inspected and certified in the country of origin and issued with a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) by KEBS appointed inspection companies,” KEBS MD Charles Ongwae stated.
“Our role as a standardisation body is to protect the consumers at the same time support trade,” he added.
In addition to that, the used clothes and shoes must be packed in clear transparent and water proof materials.
All packaged consignments are required to have a maximum weight of 50 kilograms for clothes and 25 kilograms for shoes.
All consignments shall also be accompanied by a health certificate issued by a public health authority in the country where the items have been collected or sourced.
The standardisation body, whose mission is to provide standardization solutions for sustainable development, has recently heightened its effort in eliminating sub-standard goods in the market.
