About the report
This report, “Tanzania: Business Perspectives”, based on a survey of over 600 Tanzanian traders, identifies the biggest challenges and suggests ways to strengthen the country’s quality and customs infrastructure. Additional interviews were also conducted with representatives of various public agencies and business support organisations.
According to the report, more than a third of Tanzanian companies have fully or partially resolved trade obstacles in the last six years. Government-led initiatives and regulatory reforms have helped ease exporters’ difficulties.
This second ITC survey in the United Republic of Tanzania also finds that 72% of exporters – especially those exporting agricultural commodities – still struggle to comply with domestic and foreign trade-related regulations and procedures such as finding suitable export packaging materials and meeting international buyers’ quality standards. The survey also revealed that traders still struggle with delays, high fees and charges, as well as limited or deficient facilities at home – so-called procedural obstacles that stem from non-tariff measures. These measures undermine exporters’ competitiveness and ability to access international markets.
Government-led initiatives and regulatory reforms have eased some exporter difficulties since ITC conducted its first survey in the country in 2013-14. Among the most important changes: a pilot electronic single window to meet export requirements, better regional recognition of conformity assessments, and fewer or lower fees charged by different agencies.
The report recommends that the government’s top priority should be an electronic single window system, a paperless one-stop service – now in the pilot stage – that connects all agencies involved in cross-border trade.
Background
The International Trade Centre 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.
This report prepared by the International Trade Centre as part of MARKUP, identifies the toughest trade hurdles facing Tanzanian businesses and recommends a way forward.
For more information on the first NTM Business Survey in Tanzania, click here.
Related Events
Report Launch. United Republic of Tanzania - Invisible Barriers Barriers to Trade
ITC and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tanzania will organize an event to launch the report United Republic of Tanzania: Business Perspectives, as part of ITC's Invisble Barriers to Trade Series.
14 April 2022, Dodoma.
Tanzania: Stakeholder Consultation and Awareness Raising on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) with the spices sector
Consultation workshop on non-tariff measures related hurdles of the Tanzanian spices sector. ITC will also give an overview of its tool to source information on trade data and quality requirements for international trade. 20 March 2021, Tanzania.