General Overview of the PVoC Program

PVOC Program is a conformity assessment program applied to products at the respective exporting countries, to ensure their compliance with the applicable Kenyan Technical Regulations and Mandatory Standards or approved specifications.

Legal Basis of the PVoC Program
PVOC program was started on 29th September 2005 by KEBS, through the publication of Legal Notice No. 78 of 15th July, 2005 by the Minister for Trade and Industry. The program is also fully compliant with the provisions of Article 5 of WTO TBT Agreement.

Objectives of the program

Ensure their products or goods meet the regulations and quality requirements of Kenya before shipment by carrying out tests based on relevant Kenya Standards or approved specifications and/or obtaining the necessary Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from the appointed PVoC Agents for all products subject to the PVoC program.

Certification Routes for general Goods

Route A (Consignment inspection and Testing)

Under this Route, products to be shipped have to be both tested and physically inspected to demonstrate conformity to relevant standards. This route is open to all products being exported by either traders or manufacturers.

Route B (Product Registration)

This route offers a fast track certification process for goods with reasonable and consistent levels of quality through registration of such products by the PVoC Agent. Product registration is recommended to Exporters having frequent shipments of homogenous products. The registration is valid for a period of one year. Shipments of registered products are exempted from mandatory testing and certification may be based on physical inspection only. However, regular testing of registered product is still required to ensure product conformity throughout the registration period.

The following products are however not eligible for registration under Route B (i.e. are subject to certification under Route A only);

Route C Product Licensing:

his route is open only to manufacturers who can demonstrate existence of a quality management system in their production/ manufacturing process. It involves auditing of such production processes and licensing of products manufactured thereof by authorized PVoC Agent(s) in line with ISO Guide 28: 2004. On successful conclusion of this process, the manufacturer will be presented with a License for the relevant products valid for a period of one (1) year. Licensed products shall be subject to random physical inspection by authorized PVoC Agent(s) prior issuance of Certificate of Conformity and subsequent shipping of the same. However, the PVoC Agent(s) shall carry out limited testing during the license valid period.

Note: The PVoC Agent(s) will review the Request for Certification (RFC) received from the exporter before determining the most appropriate certification route and the applicable standard to be used in the certification process.

Route D Consolidated Cargo Imports

This route is open only to registered importers of consolidated cargo. This is cargo containing a wide range of products or merchandise generally in small quantities or parcels belonging to several consignees who have pooled or assembled together their parcels to form one consignment which may be declared as belonging to one importer at the port of destination or de-consolidated back into the original individual consignments for delivery to the respective cargo owners upon arrival at destination port. For purposes of this procedure a consolidated cargo shall contain not less than 3 different products/ brands.

Registered consolidators, who bring together separate items from different individuals or sources into a one consignment for importation, shall apply for certification and submit the packing list and commercial invoice to PVOC agent at least forty-eight (48) hours before inspection. The PVOC agents shall assign the required number of inspectors to the consolidation points to undertake inspection and thereafter issue Certificate of Inspection (CoI). High risk goods imported through this Route shall be subjected to testing at destination by KEBS before release. Importers of such goods are required to meet the cost of testing at destination.

FEES CHARGED UNDER THE PVOC PRGRAM

Route A: 0.60% of the FOB Value min USD 265 max USD 2700

Route B: 0.55% of the FOB Value min USD 265 max USD 2700

Route C: 0.35% of the FOB Value min USD 265 max USD 2700

Route D: 0.75% of the FOB Value min USD 265 max USD 2700

The above fees cover documentary verification, physical inspection and sampling including sealing of the containers where applicable. The fees do not include: -

Banned Products
>Ban of eggs and egg derivative/related products
>Ban of milk and milk related products
>Some brands of dry cell batteries
>Some cosmetics containing hydroquinone, steroids, mercury and hydrogen peroxide