The Kenya Bureau of Standards on Monday maintained that vehicles which were imported into the country without conforming to the eight-year rule would either be destroyed or shipped back to the country of origin.
The Kenya Revenue Authority recently raised issue with importation of about 500 over-age vehicles, which were cleared to enter into the local market after allegedly being exempted from the rule by the Industrialisation ministry.
The case has since been taken up by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, which is investigating possible collusion between importers, customs officers and officials of the standards agency.
"The rules are clear that such vehicles are either shipped back or destroyed. There will be no discrimination in the application of this law," Kebs managing director Joseph Koskei told journalists in Mombasa.
He was speaking when he opened a five-day capacity building seminar for laboratory testing officers from Kebs and various firms accredited by the agency to offer testing services.He warned firms that collude with unscrupulous traders to tamper with laboratory results to favour certain individuals that stern measures would be taken against them.
The MD also said fake Kebs quality stamps that were circulating in the manufacturing sector might have been obtained through the aid of the agency’s employees.
"In the past we have had incidents where a laboratory technician tampers with the results of a sample and provides wrong results knowing too well that the results are incorrect," he noted.
He added: "The moment you provide such results you should know that they will harm consumers including yourself. Those charged with the responsibility should exercise proper ethics and high integrity."
Kebs is in the process of accrediting more agencies to offer testing laboratory services in the region to increase capacity in tandem with growing business within the East Africa Community, according to Mr Joel Gikubu, chief manager and head of testing.
"After the coming into effect of the EAC common market protocol we anticipate that demand for laboratory testing services will shoot up," he said.
Chilean Line, CSAV Restarts West Africa Services In December
Chilean container line CSAV says it intends restarting its services to West Africa as from December by way of its ‘West Africa Explorer’ service which will operate between South Africa and Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin and Nigeria.
The service will consist of four vessels, each with a capacity of 1,800-TEU. The port rotation is as follows: Durban, Abidjan, Tema, Cotonou, Lagos and back to Durban, where it will connect with CSAV services to Asia, the Middle East and East Coast of South America. The service commences with the sailing of the SAN ADRIANO from Durban on 12 December 2010.
CMA CGM introduces Eco-containers on trial
French line CMA CGM, which in 2005 was the first company to introduce bamboo-floored eco-containers, is currently running a test for new eco-containers that are manufactured using non-timber composite flooring; the Eko-Flor.
CMA CGM says that in line with its commitment to environmental protection, it has for several years been implementing modern eco-conception techniques in order to avoid the harmful impact of container flooring production on rainforest deforestation.
The new Eko-Flor which makes use of advanced reinforced compound material offers a number of advantages. These include a lighter weight floor that reduces energy used in transportation; resistance to water, oil, odour, microbes etc; low total energy required for production; increased container service life; and a re-usable and recyclable floor.
In addition the containers are built with highly resistant high tensile steel making for a lighter container and therefore reducing the energy used in transportation. CMA CGM will be running tests for the next six months with the containers deployed on the Asia-Europe services.
Maputo Port Gets New CEO
Portus Indico, the 51 percent shareholder in Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), which holds the concession to manage and operate the Port of Maputo, has appointed Mr Osario Lucas as Projects Coordinator and Legal Executive.
Lucas has a Masters degree in Law and has had 15 years of experience in working for CFM prior to joining Portus Indico, which included him serving a three year term as CFM Executive Board Director. He has also served on the boards of a number of companies including MPDC.
Portus Indico (Sociede de Servicos Portuarios SA) has as its shareholders DP World and South Africa’s Grindrod Group, which each hold 48.5 percent of the shares, and local Mozambican company Gestores SARL which owns the balance of 3 percent. In 2008 DP World confirmed that it spent US$ 32 million on buying its stake in MPDC. The balance of 49 percent of MPDC is owned by CFM, the state-owned port and railway company.
DP World also owns a majority 60 percent share in MIPS – Mozambique International Port Services, which operates the port’s container terminal. CFM owns the other 40 percent.
Experts Predict Rise In Middle Fleet
The Middle East shipping fleet is expected to grow 11 per cent to 2,273 vessels within the next three years as orders are delivered from the world’s shipyards, a study says. The greatest growth will be in the container ship fleet and oil tankers , research by the UK shipping consultant Fred Doll reveals, after record orders in the boom years between 2004 and 2008 when global trade surged and oil prices quadrupled.
But as the industry recovers from the global downturn, significant risks of late delivery and cancellations remain, delegates were told at this week’s Seatrade Middle East conference. Anywhere from 5 to 35 per cent of ship orders are vulnerable to slippages, said Chris Hayman, the chairman of Seatrade, a shipping research organisation. “It is a huge difference. The sheer uncertainty of this is a new phenomenon for the industry,” Mr Hayman said.
Regional shippers are benefiting from a rebound to global trade. DP World, the ports operator based in Dubai, said container volumes grew 14 per cent across its global network in the third quarter. The biggest gains were recorded in Australia and the Americas. The fleet of dry cargo vessels used to carry iron ore, grain and alumina is expected to add 10 more ships to take the total to 631.
Scott Jones, the chief executive of Emirates Ship Investment Company based in Abu Dhabi, said the dry cargo transport industry was already relatively strong due to the huge amount of iron ore and coal being imported by China. But there is also growing demand in the Middle East, Mr Jones said. The largest project under construction is a steel pellet plant in Sohar, Oman, which is backed by the global industrial company Vale and will require 10 million tonnes a year of iron ore.
With water supplies under pressure in Saudi Arabia, the country’s agricultural output will be affected and it is expected to require increasing grain imports, Mr Jones added. Egypt is also an important importer of grain, from Russia before that country’s ban on wheat exports, but now from the US. “Overall, there are quite significant advances and increases in this region, which are quite interesting to local companies,” Mr Jones said.
Shipping rates fluctuate week to week in the container trade, said Waleed al Dawood, the chief operating officer of United Arab Shipping Company. But they were well above the troughs of last year, he added, declining to give estimates. According to the Frank Doll research, the region’s fleet of offshore vessels will grow 12 per cent to 370 vessels. The fleet of oil tankers will grow 21 per cent to 565 vessels if all orders are delivered.
Discussion about this post