Kenya switches off KRA cargo e-seals and moves to approved vendors

Kenya switches off KRA cargo e-seals and moves to approved vendors

16 October 2026: The Kenya Revenue Authority will stop operating its own electronic cargo seals for dry cargo and motor vehicle units on 26 October 2026. From that day, goods moving under customs control in Kenya must be tracked with devices bought from approved private vendors, under the Multi-Vendor User-Owned Framework of the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS).

Update, 27 October 2026: KRA said on 27 October that it had begun rolling out the framework that day. Its release says the old model relied on a single vendor to supply and manage the devices since 2017, and gives two problems it is meant to fix: seals that were not available at cargo tagging points, and ageing devices. Under the new framework the seals are owned and managed by vendors or users, depending on the commercial terms they agree, and every seal must be integrated with the East African Community's RECTS so that KRA keeps real-time monitoring of cargo under customs control. The release names no vendors and sets no date for retiring older devices.

From a state-run seal to a vendor contract

Until now, the e-seals clipped to transit and bonded consignments under RECTS were KRA property. The Commissioner of Customs and Border Control's notice ends that for dry cargo and vehicle units on the same day the new framework starts. KRA's e-fuel seals, used to monitor wet cargo, are to be "progressively phased out", with no end date given.

The new arrangement rests on private commercial agreements between the approved vendors and their users. Users may pick any vendor on the approved list, which KRA publishes on its website and also gives out by email at cmu@kra.go.ke, at the Cargo Monitoring Unit on the 13th floor of Times Tower in Nairobi, or at other customs offices.

Who has to act before 26 October

The notice is addressed to importers, exporters, clearing and forwarding agents, transporters, bonded warehouse operators and the partner states that share the regional system. In practice the transporters and agents who book the seal for each consignment need a signed agreement with an approved vendor, and working devices, before the switch, or consignments that require monitoring will have no compliant way to move.

Because the devices now belong to users or vendors rather than to KRA, the questions a transport business would ask any telematics supplier now apply: the price per trip or per device, who pays for a lost or damaged seal, how alerts reach the business and the authority, and what happens to tracking data. The notice states none of these terms; they sit in each vendor's contract.

Tracking software and the data it produces

For logistics software and telematics providers working in East Africa, the change opens a regulated market that was previously served by the authority's own hardware. Whether an approved vendor's platform feeds a transporter's own fleet or transport management system, or only the customs monitoring centre, depends on the vendor, and it is worth asking before signing. Our GPS tracking software category lists 13 products and our fleet management software category eight.

The notice does not say how many vendors are approved, what the devices cost, or whether a transition period applies to consignments already sealed with KRA devices on 26 October.

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Sources

• Kenya Revenue Authority public notice: full roll-out of electronic monitoring and tracking of goods under customs control, 16 October 2026
• Kenya Revenue Authority: KRA rolls out multi-vendor electronic cargo seal framework to enhance trade efficiency, 27 October 2026