Bank of Tanzania governor Benno Ndulu (left) addresses journalists on
security marks of banknotes in Dar es Salaam. With him is banking
director Emmanuel Boaz. PHOTO | FILE
By Alawi Masare6
In Summary
Dar es Salaam. Increased export of goods and
services made in Tanzania is what the economy needs to move to the next
level in the wake of the weakening shilling.
That is exactly what the Tanzania Chamber of
Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) has been advocating for, for
many years culminating in the introduction of a project to tackle
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) in 2012.
The project has been advocating for removal of
NTBs that have been impeding transit trade and exportation of products
originating from Tanzania to the East African Community Region and the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) since 2012.
The project aims at enhancing the mechanism
through which the NTBs are identified, reported, monitored with an
ultimate goal of elimination in order to create a conducive environment
for the smooth flow of trade within Tanzania and in the East African
region as a whole. As Tanzania’s Private Sector focal point for (NTBs),
TCCIA through the financial support of Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA)
amounting to $1.2 million have received technical support, supply of
important equipment including computers, servers, scanners and
facilitation of various project related trainings, seminars, meetings
and promotional campaigns.
Through this project, TCCIA has managed to develop
two systems that have been helpful in creating a conducive business
environment by lowering the cost of doing business in Tanzania and in
the EAC region as a whole. The first system; NTBs, SMS and Online
Reporting and Monitoring System is an IT based tool that enables
exporters and importers to report NTBs encountered along the trade
corridors, at borders or at government institutions’ offices.
Mercelina Kalugira, a regional executive officer
for TCCIA in Shinyanga Region, has been monitoring cases to do with
NTB’s amongst traders in Shinyanga. Her role involves building capacity
to bridge the knowledge gap in the use of NTBs, SMS and Online Reporting
and Monitoring System.
“We have received a lot of cases to do with NTB’s
in one stop border posts areas like Kabanga, Mtukula, whereby the
majority of local exporters from Shinyanga face hurdles as a result of
lack of knowledge. I have travelled on the trade route with them to see
their experiences for instance, some traders are not aware that packages
that are not more than 200 dollars do not require a Comprehensive
Certificate of Origin and instead they use Simplified Certificates of
Origin which are available free of charge at TRA offices located at
every border. Some traders unknowingly have been asked to pay for the
comprehensive certificates, says Mercelina.
Since its establishment in 2012 the system has
captured 85 NTBs and 54 per cent of them have been eliminated and the
remainder are at different levels of resolution. To report an NTB
through the system, system users/exporters write NTBs then leave a space
and state the barrier they face and the message sent to 15539.
The most common institutions in the imposition of
NTBs in Tanzania include Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanroads,
Tanzania Port Authority (TPA), Tanzania Foods and Drugs Authority
(TFDA), Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Immigration Department,
Tanzania Police Force Department, among others. Through the
establishment of the National Monitoring Committee (NMC) composed of
about 38 different public and private sector organisations a notable
achievement in dealing with NTBs has since been realised. The committee
is a live example of how Private Public Partnership (PPP) can
revolutionise the trade sector.
Electronic Certificate of Origin is the second
system of its kind in the East African Community (EAC) region developed
by the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA)
under the support of TradeMark East Africa (TMEA). This system enables
exporters to apply for Certificates of Origin electronically and get
them approved on line by the competent authority. This system cuts down
the transporter’s cost of processing the document by 50 per cent. Since
it started its operation in July 2014 it has facilitated issuance of
about 300 certificates. More than 300 exporters are trained throughout
the country on the usage of the system.
Rogert Mwasha works for Twiga Cement as a
logistics superintendent. Twiga Cement exports cement to countries such
as Malawi, Burundi and Rwanda. Mwasha has been using the electronic
certificate of origin since it was initiated by TCCIA.
“The electronic certificate of origin system is
less time consuming compared to the manual system that we had previously
as less time is spent to input data electronically. A process that took
more than three days previously now takes only a few minutes. The
electronic system has also reduced bureaucracy that was evident in the
manual system. It also helps in that there is a back up of all the
information electronically on a database unlike in the manual system,”
says Mwasha.
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