Report Launch: United Republic of Tanzania - Invisible Barriers to Trade
14 April 2022. Dodoma, Tanzania.
Agenda
08:00 - 09:00 Arrival of invitees
09:00 - 09:10 Welcoming Remarks and Introduction of Delegates (MARKUP National Focal Point)
09:10 - 09:30 Greetings and Brief Remarks from partners (TANTRADE • TASPA • TCA • TAHA)
09:10 - 09:30 An overview of the survey journey and briefing of the report (MIIT)
09:30 - 10:10 Remarks from the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade; Minstry of Agriculture, International Trade Centre, EU Delegation
10:10 - 10:30 Speech from Guest of Honour (MIIT)
10:30 - 10:40 Official launch of the report
10:40 - 10:50 Vote of thanks – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EAC Cooperation.
10:50 - 11:15 Group photo; Media briefing
11:15 - 13:00 Panel discussion
13:00 - 14:00 Closing of the event
Download the report:
Background
ITC in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade of Tanzania will organize an event on 14 April 2022 to launch the report “United Republic of Tanzania: Business Perspectives” as part of ITC’s Invisible Barriers to Trade series.
This report documents the results of the NTM survey in Tanzania highlighting the top regulatory and procedural hurdles to trade businesses face.
As this is the first time ITC has implemented the NTM Business Survey twice in the same country, this report also provides a unique assessment of how business experiences have evolved over time. Effort is also made to document the various reforms the Government of Tanzania has made to facilitate trade in recent the years.
Finally, the report puts forward a series of recommendations to help businesses overcome trade hurdles and for the government to facilitate trade. These recommendations have been drafted following a series of consultations with stakeholders in Tanzania.
It is hoped that this report will help forge a roadmap that leads to more inclusive and competitive trade policy.
NTM Business Survey in Tanzania
As part of the Tanzania Partner States Window of MARKUP, ITC implemented a business surveys on non-tariff measures (NTMs) which give micro, small and medium-sized enterprises a voice and shed light on the often-invisible obstacles to trade that exporters face.
ITC interviewed 613 Tanzanian companies, with a special focus on key priority products: tea, coffee, avocado, horticulture and spices to identify the key regulatory and procedural obstacles to trade Tanzanian exporters and importers face. Discussions with 50 exporters that faced difficulties in 2013/14 also helped understand the changes in company perception overtime.
Overall, the surveys capture burdensome NTMs imposed by partner countries as well as bottlenecks in the home country, for example related to exporter capabilities and technical facilities to meet regulations and demonstrate compliance with NTMs, or challenging administrative processes associated with exporting and importing (procedural obstacles).
The business surveys gather evidence from the ground about unnecessary trade cost that NTMs imply. Stakeholder consultations that accompany the survey process allow identifying how to reduce such trade cost without undermining legitimate objectives that trade regulations serve. The process thereby informs the design and implementation of Tanzania’s trade strategy, and contributes to bringing tangible changes to the business environment and facilitating untapping existing trade potentials.
As part of the survey, ITC has also interviewed 21 public sector agencies and 35 private sector association on issues related to non-tariff measures and business environment in Tanzania.
Market Access Upgrade Programme
ITC is implementing the Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP), a regional initiative aiming at improving market access to European Union (EU) and the East African region for five East Africa Community (EAC) partner countries - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - agro-industrial crop and horticultural sectors. The EU 11th European Development Fund funds MARKUP from 2018 to 2022.
Under the EAC window of MARKUP, the interventions of ITC entail the implementation of activities to improve product quality compliance, value addition, access to finance and business promotion as well as business advocacy to facilitate trade in the EAC region.
