The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced a scheduled maintenance exercise that will temporarily interrupt access to its iSCAN platform on Tuesday, August 4.
In a notice on Monday, August 3, the authority said the maintenance is expected to last for one hour, during which all users will be unable to access the system.
KRA said the scheduled maintenance will begin at 6:00 a.m. and conclude at 7:00 a.m., with the iSCAN platform being the only affected system.
"Any inconvenience caused is highly regretted," the notice read in part.
At the same time, KRA said its new Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) platform has taken effect, introducing a mandatory pre-arrival cargo declaration process for all containerised sea freight.
Read More
Under the new requirements, exporters, shipping lines and other stakeholders must obtain an ACD reference number before loading any Full Container Load (FCL) or Less than Container Load (LCL) cargo bound for Kenya.
Exporters are required to generate the reference code through the ACD platform by uploading a draft bill of lading, commercial invoice, freight invoice and export declaration.
The generated ACD reference code must then be endorsed on the bill of lading before the shipment proceeds to a Kenyan port.
KRA said the new platform is intended to streamline cargo processing and enhance customs procedures by ensuring critical shipment information is submitted before cargo arrives at Kenyan ports.
This comes days after KRA announced that it exceeded its customs revenue target for the financial year 2025/26, collecting Ksh988.8 billion.
In a statement on Wednesday, July 29, the authority said its Customs Department outperformed its revenue target during the financial year, posting collections above the projected amount.
"Customs Revenue surpassed its target by recording a performance rate of 100.8% with a collection of Ksh988.780 billion against a target of Ksh980.794 billion," the statement read.
According to KRA, the achievement was supported by several operational improvements, including enhanced compliance initiatives, increased cargo volumes, technology-driven processes, stronger risk management systems, and closer collaboration with stakeholders.
"The FY 2025/26 achievement was driven by enhanced compliance initiatives, increased cargo volumes, technology-driven processes, improved risk management, and stronger collaboration with stakeholders," the statement added.
KRA further noted that the customs revenue performance was underpinned by strong collections from both oil and non-oil revenue streams, which together accounted for the total customs revenue recorded during the period.
"Customs revenue collection is attributed to the good performance of oil and non-oil revenue streams, which collected Ksh370.383 billion and Ksh618.397 billion respectively," the statement further read.
According to KRA, among the initiatives credited with driving the strong performance was the rollout of the eCustoms Mobile Application, which is designed to reduce the cost of compliance while making customs and tax services more accessible, convenient, and user-friendly for cross-border traders.
The authority also said the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme continued to deliver strategic benefits by promoting compliant trade, while upgrades to the Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) architecture improved operational efficiency and overall system performance.
Additionally, KRA revealed that Customs signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India's Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to facilitate the real-time exchange of Pre-Arrival Information.
-1785753130.jpg)
