50325 - 19042010
The Kenya Government has put on hold a Legal notice issued last year on testing of petroleum products imported in to the country.
The move follows an outcry by oil marketing companies that the process was costly and the operators were forced to pass over the addition charge to motorist.
Industrialisation Permanent Secretary John Lonyangapuo said that the Government has noted with concern that importers will incur more costs than was the case before after Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) outsourced inspection of petroleum products to Geo Chem. He further instructed Kebs to refund monies collected from oil marketing companies since March 1, this year and that the standards body carries out inspection of the oil imports rather than Geo Chem.
The Standards Quality Inspection of Imports Regulations of 2009 issued in September authorised the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to carry out inspection of oil imports at a fee of 0.675 per cent of the import cost.
Kebs had outsourced the services of Geo Chem Middle East to carry out inspection of both crude and refined petroleum imports and further asked the Kenya Revenue Authority) to collect the fuel inspection fees on behalf of the firm before releasing fuel to oil marketing companies.
The contract between Geo Chem and Kebs has also been terminated, but the PS said the Indian firm could bid for the job in case of a fresh tender for the job.
The announcement at a press briefing followed a closed-door meeting with oil industry stakeholders in a bid to resolve a seeming stand off between oil marketers and the Government over the inspection cost.
The Kenya Government has put on hold a Legal notice issued last year on testing of petroleum products imported in to the country.
The move follows an outcry by oil marketing companies that the process was costly and the operators were forced to pass over the addition charge to motorist.
Industrialisation Permanent Secretary John Lonyangapuo said that the Government has noted with concern that importers will incur more costs than was the case before after Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) outsourced inspection of petroleum products to Geo Chem. He further instructed Kebs to refund monies collected from oil marketing companies since March 1, this year and that the standards body carries out inspection of the oil imports rather than Geo Chem.
The Standards Quality Inspection of Imports Regulations of 2009 issued in September authorised the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to carry out inspection of oil imports at a fee of 0.675 per cent of the import cost.
Kebs had outsourced the services of Geo Chem Middle East to carry out inspection of both crude and refined petroleum imports and further asked the Kenya Revenue Authority) to collect the fuel inspection fees on behalf of the firm before releasing fuel to oil marketing companies.
The contract between Geo Chem and Kebs has also been terminated, but the PS said the Indian firm could bid for the job in case of a fresh tender for the job.
The announcement at a press briefing followed a closed-door meeting with oil industry stakeholders in a bid to resolve a seeming stand off between oil marketers and the Government over the inspection cost.
