General Standards
Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) was established under the Ministry of Industry and Trade by an Act of Parliament, the Standards Act No.3 of 1975 as the National Standards Institute and became operational in April 1976. It was subsequently renamed Tanzania Bureau of Standards through an amendment to the Act by Act No.1 of 1977.
The Bureau was established as part of the efforts by the government to strengthen the supporting institutional infrastructure for the industry and commerce sectors of the economy. Specifically, TBS was mandated to undertake measures for quality control of products of all descriptions and to promote standardization in industry and commerce.
IMPORT LICENSE
Import licensing can serve as a trade barrier, with adverse effects on the flow of trade. The WTO agreement on import licensing seeks to ensure transparency and nondiscrimination in the use of import licenses. There are two types of import licenses in Tanzania: automatic licensing where the authorities issue licenses automatically without discretionary powers; and non-automatic licensing used for administration of quota restrictions and other measures based on discretionary powers. Tanzania has adopted automatic granting of import licenses, for trade facilitation, data collection and monitoring purposes. The objective of the instrument of registration of importers is to keep track of imports for tariff and tax administration purposes.
CUSTOMS VALUATION
The main objective of the WTO in the area of customs valuation is to provide procedures for greater uniformity and certainty in the undertaking of customs valuation on a fair, uniform and neutral system. 43 Currently the responsibility for mandatory psi and customs valuation in Tanzania is contracted to private firms. In January 2001, Tanzania switched from using the BDV definition for customs valuation to WTO-compatible customs value definition precluding the need for PSI. The interim objective of the reviews of customs valuation and PSI has been to shorten the turn-around time required for customs clearance to internationally competitive levels.
TRIMs (LOCAL CONTENT REQUIREMENTS)
The instrument of local content requirements falls under the WTO agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). The agreement covers a number of restrictive issues on foreign investments in view of their trade restricting impact. These include conditionalities on local content, local equity, foreign exchange balancing, import obligations and others that are specifically prohibited under the TRIMs agreement. The TRIMS agreement prohibits countries from using these measures as they are considered inconsistent with GATT rules on national treatment and rules against the use of quantitative restrictions. Tanzania, as a least developed country (LDC), was required to comply with the TRIMs agreement by 2002 following the expiry of a 7-year grace period given to LDCs.
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN
The Certificate of Origin is required by Customs Organization in Tanzania while importing or exporting different kinds of products.
Rules of Origin are laws, regulations and administrative criteria applied by a country to determine the country of origin of goods, for tariff preference purposes, subject to specific conditions as defined in WTO Agreements and RTAs. Clear and predictable rules of origin and their application facilitate the flow of international trade. Nevertheless, Rules of Origin can create unnecessary obstacles to trade and nullify or impair the rights of members in regional and multilateral trading arrangements including the EAC, SADC and the WTO. Consequently, Rules of Origin have to be applied in a transparent, predictable, consistent and neutral manner so as to avoid their negative effects.
EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE
The Export Processing Zone is a trade development instrument used to stimulate export-oriented economic activities through building an exporting culture, acquisition of appropriate technology and skills, and building capacity for competitiveness. The instrument works through reducing the relatively higher transaction costs facing exporting firms as compared to those operating in the domestic market. The Export Processing Zone eliminates the need for initial investments in infrastructure and limits capital investments to machinery and equipment. It is an interim measure aimed at compensating investors for distortions in an economy pending the emergence of an efficient market system.
LABELING STANDARDS
All written, printed, or graphic material accompanying a product at any time or written, printed, or graphic material about the product displayed at retail stores about the product, may be considered as a label.
Normally guidance on food labeling is provided or required in aspects such as:
- Place of origin;
- Name and Address of Manufacturer, Packer or Supplier;
- Quantitative Ingredient Declarations (QUID);
- Batch or Lot marking;
- Expiry, best before, use by – dates;
- Nutrition labeling;
Labels are provided to customers to tell them what they are buying The name of the product therefore, should not be misleading.
PACKAGING STANDARDS
The Tanzania packaging regulations are designed to promote the recovery of packaging waste by imposing recycling obligations on commercial suppliers who place packaging or packaged products onto the Irish market.
Packaging waste is comprised of the following waste types:
- aluminium;
- fibreboard;
- glass;
- paper;
- plastic sheeting;
- steel;
- wood.
The Regulations apply to all businesses that handle specified packaging in whatever form it arises in the course of their business.
Whether you manufacture, import, buy or sell packaged goods, whether you operate a factory or corner shop, pub or restaurant, these Regulations apply to you. Every entrepreneur is legally obliged to recycle the packaging waste.
CONTACTS
Tanzania Bureau of Standards
Ubungo Area, Morogoro Road / Sam Nujoma Road
P O Box 9524, Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA.
Tel: +255 22 245 0298 | +255 22 245 0206 | +255 22 245 0949
Fax: +255 22 245 0959
E-mail: info@tbs.go.tz
Website: www.tbs.go.tz ; www.eac-quality.net
