The Challenge

As East Africa’s largest trade hub, Kenya plays a pivotal role in regional supply chains, processing nearly 36 million tonnes of cargo annually through the Port of Mombasa. A growing share of this trade involves Environmentally Sensitive Commodities (ESCs)—such as chemicals, e-waste, ozone-depleting substances, and wildlife products—whose improper handling can create severe environmental and health risks.

While customs officers and border agencies are on the frontlines of regulating these goods, they often face a tough balancing act: enforcing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) while also keeping trade flowing. Current efforts in improving green customs procedures in Kenya prioritise MEA enforcement over building trade facilitation efficiencies. This imbalance leads to slow, fragmented clearance processes which can disproportionately affect ESCs with short shelf lives like fertilisers or batteries.

Limited coordination between customs and other regulatory agencies, a lack of standardised procedures, and minimal use of trade facilitation tools, all create high compliance costs and trade bottlenecks — hindering Kenya’s trade competitiveness while undermining environmental protection efforts.

 

What We Are Doing

The Alliance, in collaboration with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and its training division KESRA, is supporting the development of a new training module within Kenya’s Green Customs Curriculum to bridge the gap between MEA enforcement and trade facilitation. This module, titled ‘Facilitation of Trade in ESCs’, once integrated into the Green Customs Curriculum, will be institutionalised within KRA’s training framework.

The module will promote streamlined clearance procedures for legitimate ESC trade, aligning MEA enforcement with core trade facilitation tools such as risk-based inspections, pre-arrival processing, and simplified documentation. A case study based on a selected ESC and the MEA governing it will serve as the basis for mapping current clearance processes, identifying bottlenecks, and designing practical optimisation strategies.

The project, implemented by the Alliance through GIZ, is anchored in strong public sector ownership, with KRA and KESRA leading development and delivery of the training. KESRA’s role as a World Customs Organization-accredited Regional Training Centre ensures long-term sustainability an d regional scalability across Eastern and Southern Africa. The private sector—including importers, exporters, logistics operators and Alliance business partners—will also contribute through workshops and operational insights to ensure the training is tailored to real-world trade conditions.

Impacts

By institutionalising a trade facilitation approach for ESC clearance, the project will:

  • Streamline customs procedures for ESCs, reducing clearance times and trade costs for legitimate shipments.
  • Strengthen coordination between border agencies, improving regulatory efficiency and minimising duplication.
  • Promote safer handling of hazardous goods, reducing environmental incidents and health risks at ports and borders.
  • Build capacity in 400 customs officials, 100 logistics operators, and private sector actors to facilitate compliant, efficient ESC trade.
  • Improve predictability and transparency in Kenya’s trade environment, particularly for SMEs active in ESC-related value chains.

This project represents a key step in aligning environmental protection with trade facilitation in Kenya. Its success will not only bolster Kenya’s position as a regional trade leader but also lay the foundation for replicating this approach across Africa through KESRA’s regional training network.