Kenya — agent-bev Library

Market status

Licensed. Alcoholic drinks may be imported, exported, manufactured, sold, disposed of or otherwise dealt in only under a licence. The current official materials identify National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) licensing for alcoholic-drink import and export, and county-government licensing for alcohol-selling outlets. Wholesale, brewer and retail licence categories are set out in the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act framework.

Sources

Who can trade

Import: An importer needs an alcoholic-drinks import licence. NACADA states that applications are filed online through the Single Window Platform and require business registration evidence, director or owner identification, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) personal identification number and tax-compliance evidence, business location details, and a product profile showing brand, expected volumes, alcohol content, country of origin and Harmonised System (HS) classification. Beverage consignments also sit within the import process for the Import Declaration Form (IDF), Certificate of Conformity (CoC) where applicable, and Import Standardization Mark (ISM) permit for products sold locally.

Wholesale and distribution: The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act prohibits manufacture, sale, disposal, dealing, import or export except under the Act. The wholesale licence authorises sale at the specified premises subject to conditions, and a brewer’s licence can authorise wholesale sale or delivery from depot throughout Kenya. County liquor licensing applies to selling outlets. Excisable-goods manufacture and imports requiring excise stamps may also require KRA excise licensing or registration.

Business-to-business (B2B) online sale: An online order does not remove the underlying requirement to hold the relevant alcohol licence for sale, dealing, import or distribution. Specific treatment of independent online marketplaces, agents, payment intermediaries and delivery-only models: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Customs and duty

Tariff headings: Beer: 2203. Beer made from malt. Wine: 2204. Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wine and certain grape must. Cider: 2206. Other fermented beverages, including cider, perry and mead, and qualifying mixtures. Spirits: 2208. Undenatured ethyl alcohol below 80% alcohol by volume; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages.

Import duty: Kenya applies the East African Community (EAC) Common External Tariff (CET). KRA states that duties are assessed using customs value and tariff classification as provided under the EAC CET, together with the applicable tax and levy laws. The EAC CET and KRA notices are the official publication route; a four-digit heading alone is not enough for a shipment calculation because the full tariff line, origin, preference, exemption and any current legal notice must be checked.

Excise: Excise duty applies to excisable goods manufactured in Kenya by a licensed manufacturer and to excisable goods imported into Kenya. Finished beverage categories include wines and other fruit-fermented alcoholic beverages, beer/cider/perry/mead/opaque beer and fermented-beverage mixtures with low-strength spirituous beverages, powdered beer, and higher-strength spirits and spirituous beverages. The current structure for the main beverage groups is based on pure alcohol, with a separate small independent brewer category. Alcoholic beverages are subject to excise-stamp controls.

Territorial treatment: Customs and excise sources state the treatment for goods imported into Kenya and goods exported under customs control. County licensing is a subnational sale-control layer, not a separate customs-tariff publication. Special economic zone, export processing zone, bonded warehouse and other free-zone treatment for beverage alcohol: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Labelling

Required language(s): Statements, information and declarations required on food labels must be in English; other languages may also appear. Alcohol health-warning messages under the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act may be in English or Kiswahili.

Mandatory warnings: Every package containing an alcoholic drink must carry a statement of constituents and at least two prescribed health-warning messages. The prescribed messages cover harm to health, liver cirrhosis, impaired judgement with driving or machinery, and under-18 sale. The statement and warnings must occupy at least 30% of total package surface area, and non-conforming imports must bear the prescribed warning sticker at import.

Alcohol strength: A distilled alcoholic beverage, liqueur or alcoholic cordial below the specified spirits threshold must declare the actual percentage by volume of absolute alcohol on the main panel. Universal retail-label alcohol-strength declaration for beer, wine and cider: Not yet sourced.

Allergen lines: Ingredient and constituent declarations apply under the general food and alcohol rules. Allergen-specific declaration rules for alcoholic drinks: Not yet sourced.

Origin lines: Imported brandy must clearly indicate the country of origin. NACADA import licensing asks for country of origin in the product profile. General origin-labelling rules for beer, wine, cider and other spirits: Not yet sourced.

Wine and beverage particulars: Kenya’s food regulations prescribe standards for wine, fruit wine, vermouth or flavoured wine, cider, beer and opaque beer. Sector-specific wine label particulars beyond those general and composition rules: Not yet sourced.

Label registration and conformity marks: Imported products intended for sale in Kenya require the ISM where applicable after Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) conformity procedures. Separate prior label approval or label registration for alcoholic drinks: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Age and sale limits

Legal purchase age: 18. The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act prohibits knowingly selling, supplying or providing alcoholic drink to a person under 18 and provides an age-verification defence based on specified documents. A retailer must display signs stating that sale or availing of alcohol to under-18s is prohibited.

Access and channel limits: A licensee may not employ a person under 18 to sell, control or supervise alcoholic drinks or to have custody or control of them on licensed premises. A person under 18 may not be allowed to enter areas where alcoholic drinks are manufactured, stored or consumed. Sale by automatic vending machine is prohibited. Sachets and containers below the statutory minimum size are restricted.

Sale hours: National licensing regulations set licence-type hours. General retail is authorised during evening hours on weekdays and from afternoon to late evening on weekends and public holidays; supermarket or franchised off-licence sales use a separate daytime-to-evening window. Hotels, clubs, travellers, railway and steamship licences have distinct exceptions.

Regional layer: NACADA states that licensing of alcohol-selling outlets is devolved to county governments. Nairobi City County has its own alcoholic-drinks control and licensing law with sub-county committees and its own licence-hour schedule. Complete county-by-county hours, delivery hours and local conditions beyond Nairobi: Not yet sourced.

Sources

Protected names

Protection framework: Kenya protects signs through the Trade Marks Act, including certification trade marks and collective trade marks. Geographical names or other indications of geographical origin may be registered as collective trade marks or service marks. Kenya is also within the World Trade Organization treaty framework under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), whose Article 23 gives additional protection to geographical indications for wines and spirits.

Verified examples: Kenya’s food regulations define Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, Cognac and Armagnac by reference to production in the named origin and the law of that origin. Imported brandy must clearly show country of origin. These examples are not exhaustive.

Registered Kenyan wine, spirit, beer and cider geographical indications, and additional protected beer or cider names: Not yet sourced.

Sources

GTIN authority

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) member organisation: GS1 Kenya. GS1 Kenya states that it is a GS1 Member Organisation and that membership gives access to a GS1 Company Prefix and GTIN allocation for products.

Sources

Not yet sourced

Specific treatment of independent online alcohol marketplaces, agents, payment intermediaries and delivery-only models; special economic zone, export processing zone, bonded warehouse and other free-zone treatment for beverage alcohol; universal retail-label alcohol-strength declaration for beer, wine and cider; allergen-specific declaration rules for alcoholic drinks; general origin-labelling rules for beer, wine, cider and other spirits; sector-specific wine label particulars beyond general and composition rules; separate prior label approval or label registration for alcoholic drinks; complete county-by-county hours, delivery hours and local conditions beyond Nairobi; registered Kenyan wine, spirit, beer and cider geographical indications, and additional protected beer or cider names: Not yet sourced.