Kenya ACD certificate

What changed on 3 August 2026

The Kenya Revenue Authority launched its Advance Cargo Declaration platform on 3 August 2026, at acd.kra.go.ke. From that date, all containerised cargo destined for Kenyan ports requires an ACD reference code obtained at the point of loading.

Kenya is the newest destination on this list to introduce advance declaration, and it arrived quickly. If you shipped to Mombasa earlier in 2026 without one, nothing was wrong — the requirement simply did not exist yet.

The date that actually bites: 1 September 2026

The rule that changes how you have to work is not the August launch. It is the carrier verification step that followed on 1 September 2026.

Since that date, vessel carriers are required to validate the ACD reference before loading, and to load containers at origin only where a valid reference exists. Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and ONE have all issued advisories to that effect.

This is the part that catches people out. With most cargo tracking notes, a missing certificate is a problem you discover at destination. With Kenya, your container does not get on the ship. The failure happens at your port of loading, at your cost, with your booking rolled.

What the reference looks like

The ACD reference is a 15-digit alphanumeric code in a fixed format — for example ACDKE2026004324:

• ACDKE — five-letter prefix and country initials
• 2026 — four-digit year
• 004324 — six-digit sequential number issued by KRA

It must be printed clearly on the final Bill of Lading before the cargo is dispatched. A reference held in an email but missing from the B/L will not satisfy the carrier check.

Documents required

KRA’s platform generates the reference once four documents are uploaded:

• Draft Bill of Lading
• Commercial invoice
• Freight invoice
• Export declaration

The process runs in four steps: register on the platform, upload the documents to receive a draft, pay the applicable fees to validate, then endorse the confirmed 15-digit reference on the final Bill of Lading.

The system is still being finalised

Worth knowing, because it affects how much you should rely on current guidance: KRA introduced the ACD as a proof of concept rather than a finished regime.

Feedback gathered during the proof of concept will shape the permanent rules. Practically, that means the procedure may be refined at the end of 2026, and anything you read about Kenyan ACD written before August 2026 is describing a system that did not yet exist.

ACD is not your IDF

A recurring confusion. The Import Declaration Form is lodged by the Kenyan importer with KRA and relates to the import itself. The ACD is lodged by the shipper or forwarder at origin, before loading, and relates to the shipment.

They are separate obligations at different stages, handled by different parties. Obtaining one does not discharge the other.

Ports covered

The requirement applies to containerised cargo for Kenyan ports — principally Mombasa, and Lamu at the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor.

Transit cargo matters here too. Mombasa is the gateway for Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern DRC. Cargo discharged at Mombasa for onward movement is still cargo destined for a Kenyan port at the point of loading, so plan for the declaration even where Kenya is not your final destination.

KRA’s own note on naming

KRA describes the ACD as also being commonly referred to as CTN, ECTN, BSC or BESC. That is the authority acknowledging what shippers already know: this is the same instrument used across Africa, under a Kenyan name. If you have shipped to West or Central Africa, the process will be familiar.