Dirty containers raise alarm at Kenyan ports

Most containers used to import cargo through major Kenyan ports are contaminated and pose health risks to consumers, a new survey shows.

The study done by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) between 2019 and 2022 at the Port of Mombasa and five border points was meant to determine the level of phytosanitary risks posed by the sea container pathway in Kenya.

It was also meant to estimate the nature and level of bio-contamination in sea containers handled in the country, and establish the effectiveness of the CTU Code in dealing with sea containers.

In shipping, the CTU Code stands for Code of Practice for Packaging of Cargo Transport Units.

It is a set of guidelines developed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) that outlines best practices for safely packing cargo within containers and other transport units.

Some 56.3 percent of all the 789 surveyed containers were contaminated. The containers were from 54 different countries.

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The border where samples were randomly selected are Lungalunga, Mombasa, Busia, Isebania, Lungalunga, Namanga, and Taveta.

Five percent of the containers surveyed had a high risk level of contamination.

The study was presented by Kephis managing director Prof Theophilus Mutui.

The survey established that soil was the highest contaminant at 53.8 percent, plant materials at 30.9 percent, while arthropod contamination stood at 5.8 percent. Laboratory analysis identified three insect pests, namely, Sitophilus oryzae, Tribolium castaneum, and Tribolium confusum.

“Seeds were not sent for formal identification because they were common crop seeds—millets, rice, and wheat,” says the report.

The report avers that current mitigation measures, under the CTU Code, put in place for the shipping industry to manage contamination in sea containers are not adequately addressing the challenge.

“Based on the findings of this survey, it is clear that the sea container pathway poses a significant pest risk to Kenya,” the Kephis report.

The report recommends awareness creation on phytosanitary risk posed by the sea container pathway. It also recommends that the CTU Code be improved to directly address the pest risks at the port and the border points.

The report calls for the introduction of inspection of sea containers in the country.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says up to 40 percent of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases every year, affecting food security and agriculture across the world.

Sources at Kephis say that there has been laxity in cleaning containers at the depots before they are shipped out and that some shipping lines prefer taking the cargo boxes to China to be washed, denying Kenyan youth jobs.

Last year, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) handled two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), which is considered by Kephis and other government agencies as a potential source of employment for youth if the containers are all washed locally.

Shipping lines charge importers US$35 (about Sh4,500) to cater for cleaning the containers that have become the safe mode of transporting cargo in the world.

“We want these containers washed locally and not taken to China, where they create employment for other people,” said an official.

From March 1 this year, Kephis has been charging Sh2,000 to inspect a vessel and Sh500 per 40-foot container or Sh250 per 20-foot box to ensure compliance with its regulations on cleanliness and address the possible spread of pests and diseases from other countries. 

Kephis has since defended the charge, saying it will make the enhanced inspection program sustainable.

Maritime experts from the Kenya Ships Agents Association (KSAA) and the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Kenya have warned that the new charges by Kephis will increase the cost of imported goods as the burden will be passed on to consumers in the country and the region.

KSAA executive officer designate Elijah Mbaru argued that there were already other government agencies charging levies to ships and the Kephis charges are an unnecessary cost of doing business at the port.

“We are not opposed to the inspection by Kephis, but we are opposed to the new charges being imposed,” he argued.