THE Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC) will officially start its operations on February 3.The corporation has called on ship owners/operators, shipping agencies, shippers, consignees, clearing and forwarding agents and all other stakeholders to prepare themselves accordingly and accord cooperation to TASAC to fulfill its legal obligations.
It is established under Section 4 of the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Act, Cap 4.415 as maritime administration, regulator of the maritime safety, security and protection of the marine environment, ports and shipping services.
The corporation is exclusively mandated to conduct shipping business on clearing and forwarding for specified import and export shipments and document control.
According to a public notice signed by TASAC Director General Emmanuel Ndomba and which appeared on Thursday in the africa-press, the corporation, among other things, plans to implement functions related to shipping agency and ship tallying services.
“The general public is thus informed that the corporation will operationalise shipping agency functions in accordance with Cap 415 with effect from 3rd February 2020,” read part of the notice.
It also explains that the shipping agency that will be operationalised by TASAC on the said date covers tankers, ships, cruise ships, exploration vessels, military vessels and vessel calling for discharging or loading cargo.
Furthermore, the notice has it that ship tallying functions will come into effect from 17th February this year.
The state-owned corporation was established under Section 4 of the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Act, Number 4 of 2017, to regulate ports, shipping services, maritime environment in addition to safety and security.
Enactment of the legislation to establish TASAC was due to, among other things, under-declaration of mineral exports and fuel imports as well as tendencies by ship owners to operate own inhouse agencies, contrary to the law.
The Tanzania Shipping Agencies Bill was tabled in the National Assembly by the then Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa, on September 15, 2017.
TASAC was initially scheduled to implement the mandate on March 4, last year, but after consultation with players in the industry, it decided to change the date to June 3 last year.
Industry players noted that the law was silent on mineral exports and imports of petroleum products on transit.
Prior to the new legislation, the then Merchant Shipping Act of 2003 restricted ownership of shipping agents to 51 per cent by Tanzanians but many multinational shipping lines established their own agencies, elbowing out local players from the lucrative industry.
Until the enactment of the new law, all maritime regulatory functions were bestowed under the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA).
Before SUMATRA, the functions were under the then National Shipping Agency Corporation (NASACO ) before the industry was liberalised to embrace private players.
