Kenya, with its East African Community partners, charges import duty from a shared price list called the Common External Tariff, or CET. It says how much duty applies to each kind of product when it enters the region from outside. If you import, it is the first document to understand.

Why a common tariff

The East African Community is a customs union: goods from outside pay the same basic duty whichever port they enter, and goods that are made in the EAC and meet the rules of origin move between partner states without duty. That is why a duty rate is not decided by Kenya alone, although Kenya can apply some exceptions through its Finance Act and gazette notices.

The main bands

The CET is built on three broad bands:

  • 0% for raw materials, capital goods and inputs that the region does not make, such as machinery for factories
  • 10% for intermediate goods
  • 25% for finished consumer goods

Some sensitive items, such as certain food products, textiles and items the region wants to protect, attract higher rates, sometimes much higher. Other items attract special arrangements.

Duty remission and exemptions

Kenya sometimes grants duty remission or exemptions for specific goods or users, for example inputs for approved manufacturers, certain agricultural equipment, goods for export processing zones or humanitarian supplies. These depend on the law and approvals, so ask before you assume them.

Finding your HS code

Every product has a Harmonised System (HS) code, a number of six digits or more that classifies it. The duty rate is tied to the code. To find yours:

  1. Look at what the goods are made of and what they are for.
  2. Search the tariff for the heading that matches.
  3. Check the notes to the chapter, which explain what is included.
  4. Ask your clearing agent to confirm; they classify goods every day.

Classification mistakes can mean paying too little, and penalties later, or too much.

From the rate to the cost

Duty is only the first layer. Add the Import Declaration Fee, the Railway Development Levy and VAT; see how to calculate import duty on goods for the order and the import duty calculator to do it. The landed cost calculator adds freight and clearing, and for a basket of goods, the import duty and landed cost workbook handles each item's rate separately.

Rules of origin

To benefit from duty-free movement inside the EAC, goods must meet rules of origin, with a certificate of origin to prove it. For goods from outside, the supplier's invoice and the country of origin should be clear and correct.

Cars and motorcycles

Vehicles follow their own valuation and rates, with excise duty added; see how much it costs to import a car and the car import duty calculator.

Keep up to date

The CET is revised, usually around the East African budget in June, and Kenya's Finance Act changes some rates and exemptions. Check the rate for your code each time you order, not just once. Our guide to how to lower your landed cost legally explains how to use legitimate remission and the right classification.

When you have the rate, put it into the import duty calculator and the landed cost calculator to see the whole cost. Fees and levies that apply to every import are explained in IDF and RDL explained, and importers of vehicles will find the rates in excise duty on imports and vehicles. The checklist of documents is in the import documents checklist.

Tariff rates are set by law and change. Confirm them with KRA, the EAC and a licensed clearing agent.

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