Kenya | COVID-19 import ban on second-hand clothes and shoes

The Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, announced in March 2020 a ban directive on importation of used garments and used shoes.

Following the government directive, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) issued a public notice on 31 March 2020 notifying the general public and all importers of used garments and used footwear (commonly known as mitumba) that importation of used garments and used footwear was prohibited with immediate effect. The notice was in pursuant to the declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic in line with requirements of the applicable Kenya standards, the codes of practice for inspection and acceptance of used garments and used footwear, that no consignment of used garments and used footwear shall be accepted from a country experiencing an epidemic. After many pleas from sector players, the government on 2 April 2020, through KEBS allowed consignments of used garments and used shoes shipped, inspected and found compliant before 12 March 2020, to be released.