Overview 

The Taveta/Holili One Stop Border Point crossing was the first to commence operations in 2016. It is located between Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania is located about 264 km South-east of Mombasa (Kenya) and 110 km West of Arusha (Tanzania). The Kenyan side of the border is in Taita-Taveta County, while the Tanzanian side is in Himo Town, Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region. Taveta is one of the key border crossing points between the two countries due to the border’s proximity to major cities. Operationalising the Taveta/Holili border was expected to increase with the construction of a new Voi-Arusha Road passing through the two border points, stretching the capacity of the then infrastructure and operations thereby increasing delays and costs related to waiting time for import and export processing. 

Individuals crossing the Taveta Holili OSBP (One Stop Border Post) are required to have certain documents to do so, including the following: 1. Passport (or national ID for East Africans).2. Visa (if applicable). 3. Yellow fever vaccination certificate. There are separate lanes for cargo trucks and private cars. 

At the OSBP, passengers, cargo and vehicles stop once to process border crossing formalities to exit one partner state and enter the other. The border formalities and documentation processing for goods and passengers are carried out in a single clearance hall for exit from one partner state and entry into the adjoining State. If cargo inspection is required, it is done at once through joint inspection involving all interested border agencies from both partner states at the same time and location. 

Daily Capacity 

The current estimated volume of cargo transported and passengers’ traffic through the Holili/Taveta border is 10,000 tons and 500 people per day. An average number of trucks are inspected in a day is 50, majorly from East African Community countries. The bulk of cargo that passes through the boarder being Agricultural commodities. 
 

Customs Clearance 

In a customs clearance process, there are loads of documents to be verified and submitted, either electronically or physically with the consignment. This to help the concerned officials to calculate taxes and duties that are levied on the consignment that is ready to ship. The requirements include; Proforma, Customs packing list, COO Certificate (Country of Origin), Customs Invoice, Shipping bill, Export license, Bill of lading, Bill of sight, Letter of credit, Bill of exchange, Export license and Health certificate. Unilateral bans on products, high fees by Agriculture and Food Authority-Kenya, trade information asymmetry and single lane roads on the Kenya side stifle cross border business between Kenya and Uganda via Busia One-Stop Border Posts. Traffic snarl-ups have also been blamed on poor road network and lack of power and internet connectivity at the border points. 

For more information on customs in Kenya, please see the following links:  

https://www.eac.int/press-releases/142-customs/1276-eac-operationalizes-13-one-stop-border-posts 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2020.1768468 

Other Relevant Information 

Processes or procedures required to complete the crossing and approximate waiting time 

1. Pre-clearance documentation; Contract a clearing agent 

2. Obtaining Kenya Service release; requirements;  

• Submission of documents for verification 

• Verification of consignment 

• Paying for import permit 

• Obtaining Kenya Service release 

3. Obtaining Port Health Services release 

• Applying for import health certificate and generate e-slip 

• Paying for import health certificate 

• Submission of clearance documents for verification 

• Verification of consignment 

• Obtaining import health certificate 

4. Obtaining KES release 

• Submit documents for verification 

• Payment of destination inspection fees 

• Verification of consignment 

5. Obtaining KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) release 

• Obtaining exit note 

• Submission of clearance documents for verification 

• Verification of consignment 

• Obtaining KRA final release 

6. Physical release of consignment 

Period; 

Waiting time in queue: Max. 5mn 

Attention at counter: Max.  5mn 

For more information on processes or procedures required to complete the crossing and approximate waiting time Link;  

https://wfp.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/HSCMCapacityStrengthening/EkE_3Nl_TOBEg-Oa-dQfD44B7TpcwQFSxTR8RLxSUB6uKA?e=Rna7s0 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List.