AfricaPress-Tanzania: A slight sigh of relief greeted the decision to delay the extension of exclusive mandate in clearing of some goods on which Tanzania freight forwarders had expressed worries.
The state-run Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (Tasac) said last month it was the only agent which would clear and forward additional items such as fertilisers, industrial sugar, domestic sugar, cooking oil, wheat, oil products, gas, liquefied gas and chemicals related to the products, starting Monday (March 15).
However, the agency announced in a statement yesterday that the date was deferred to May 15, this year to give more time for the private operators to adjust their plans.
“Following the public notice, stakeholders raised concerns that the notice did not provide enough time for parties to adjust for effective compliance,” Tasac stated. “Stakeholders are urged to note that the effective date of May 15, 2021 will not be revised. Hence they are expected to do all necessary preparations or adjustments of their plans and operations accordingly.”
“Stakeholders are also encouraged to seek from the corporation any clarification needed to enable smooth implementation of the additional mandate,” it added.
The decision was yesterday greeted with positive sentiments from the stakeholders who said they had requested the delay to implement the plan.
Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association’s (Taffa) president Edward Urio said the decision by Tasac to push the mandate back was a good thing because it will give them time to acquaint themselves with what is required of them.
He noted that Taffa and other stakeholders were in the process of seeking dialogue with a number of ministries including the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, that of Finance and Planning as well as that of Industry and Trade to discuss how the amendment of the law can be improved.
“We are seeking dialogue to protect the country’ economy and industries,” he said.
He said 70 percent of goods that will be cleared by Tasac from May this year are raw materials for industries that will increase production cost and affect competitiveness of Tanzania industrial products in both East African community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) bloc.
He said, currently, industries do their own in-house clearing and forwarding without any cost, but when Tasac takes over, the companies will be forced to pay a fee that will increase cost of production and ultimately cost of the final products.
He noted that the companies were also sceptical because they currently didn’t know how performance would be especially for emergency goods that need to be cleared on time.
For his part, Bakresa Group Corporate Affairs director Hussein Sufiani said they had requested Tasac to delay the implementation to enable them prepare well.
“I’m not in the office, but all I can say is that we requested they push the exercise back to prepare and acquaint themselves well with the mandate,” he said.
Currently, the agency has exclusive mandate by law to carry out clearing and forwarding functions in relation to import and export of minerals, mineral concentrates, machineries, petroleum, firearms, live animals and government trophies, among other goods.
