Dar es Salaam. Tanzania's ministry of agriculture on Monday said that it has issued directives to formalise trading of crops for the benefit of the
country, farmers and local and foreign traders.The government said restrictions imposed on the purchase of
agricultural crops, especially cereals, directly from farmers do not target any
country, emphasising that compliance was required by traders from all countries
buying produce from Tanzania.
Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe said
Tanzania has not banned export of agricultural crops and that foreign traders
are allowed to purchase the produce under outlined procedures.
“Tanzania is formalising the trading of agricultural crops. Today, I can’t go
to Kenya, enter the farms, purchase crops and cross the border back home.
“Countries that purchase crops from Tanzania including Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya,
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), etc, are equally required to follow
outlined procedures,” he added.
Mr Bashe said traders from foreign countries are allowed to buy agricultural
crops through locally registered companies or firms established in the country
by foreign traders.
He was commenting on media reports in Kenya that say maize millers have
expressed concern over a new Tanzania directive banning the purchase of produce
directly from farms by foreigners.
Maize millers in the neighbouring country say the move will affect
maize supply, with Tanzania being a key supplier of the grain.
A section of millers have expressed grave misgivings as to what
this directive means for the country.
The Agro-processors Association of Kenya says the move by Tanzania comes at an
inopportune time when Kenya is grappling with shortage of essential supplies,
which has necessitated a duty-free import window by the government.
“The biggest impact [of the directive] is that maize prices will go up in
Tanzania as well as here in Kenya. The prices in Unga will continue going up,”
said Mr Anthony Wambugu, the association’s chairman.
However, Mr Bashe said in a telephone interview that there are cases in the
country’s Southern Highland regions where farmers who have sold the produce had
been paid fake notes.
Mr Bashe, who doubles as Nzega Urban Constituency Member of Parliament, said
transformation aims at enabling the country to gather accurate data of crops
trading and that export transactions should be visible in the country’s
economy.
“There is reports about one crops exporter who received $5.1 million from
Ugandan traders for crops export, but no bank details that support the
payment,” he said.
He said the formalisation aims to eliminate fake trade that has been behind the
theft of money belonging to traders and farmers, lack of trade traceability and
data discrepancy between Tanzania and its trade partners.
Furthermore, he said the government wants all payments related to crops trading
to be effected via banking systems instead of carrying cash in the briefcases.
The public notice dated May 23, 2023, signed by the docket’s Permanent
Secretary Gerald Mweli, shows that the issued procedures for trading,
procurement and formalisation of agricultural crops will take effect on July 1,
2023.
They will be supervised by the regional secretariats, Local Government
Authorities (LGAs), the Tanzania Revenue Authorities (TRA) as well as other
authorities.
“They aim at protecting farmers against inconveniences and conning as well as
transforming crops trading in order to enable players to abide by laws and
regulations,” reads the document in part.
“Transformation also aims at protecting domestic traders against foreign
traders who buy crops directly from farmers. Also, it aims at helping farmers
to benefit with the government's efforts to provide subsidies and ongoing
investment that focus at reducing farming costs and increasing efficiency,”
reads another part.
Furthermore, the document says the formalisation aims at enabling access to
accurate information about trading of agricultural crops.
According to the document, in order to realise outlined
transformation objectives, procedures that will be executed effectively from
July 1, this year including the need for the district councils to identify and
announce trading centres of agriculture crops.
“The centres should comprise accredited weighing scales. Traders participating
in the crops trading should be registered by respective regions or respective
councils,” reads the document.
“Registration aims at ensuring that all levies are paid to respective councils
as stipulated by laws and that export permits are secured from the ministry,”
reads another part.
Furthermore, the document says warehouses, whether privately owned, belonging
to cooperative or the government, are used for crops storage registered in the
electronic system.
The document say traders transporting agriculture crops inside the country will
be required to secure crops’ movement order to allow free movement of produce
from one district to another or a region to another.
“Export permits and phytosanitary certificates for agricultural produce will
continue to be issued by the ministry of Agriculture through the Agricultural
Trade Management Information System-ATMIS,” the document says.
“All traders are reminded that brokers are prohibited in filing applications
for transport permits of agricultural crops,” reads another part, insisting
that submissions should be done through ATMIS.
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