Tanzania
Friday, August 10, 2018 12:58
Summary
- Tanzania president says government no longer interested in sugar imports from neighbouring countries
- In Uganda, The Daily Monitor reported recently that Tanzania had slapped a 25 per cent import duty on sugar from Uganda.
Dar es Salaam
President John
Magufuli has explained the decision of his government to ban sugar
importation from Uganda saying there were some traders who used the
opportunity to bring in smuggled products.
He made the
remarks when he was addressing a joint press conference held at State
House in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, August 8, attended also by his
Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni who is in Tanzania on an official
visit.
The event, which was broadcast live through a local TV station, was also attended by ministers from Uganda and Tanzania.
“We
were informed of smuggling of sugar products to Tanzania from Uganda.
This is why we issued an embargo to stop the illegal activities,” he
said.
Adding “Apparently we came to realise that the
sugar products which were entering the country from Uganda were not
manufactured in Uganda, but elsewhere despite being labelled as
manufactured in Uganda,” he said.
Not interested
He
further established that the government was no longer interested in
sugar importation business from neighbouring countries, citing that
there was a huge sugar stock in Tanzanian market.
“Tanzania is not a dumping place. There is enough amount of imported sugar in Tanzania,” he said.
This
was a response following complaints raised by Ugandan traders that
their sugar cargo was being denied entry into Tanzania.
In Uganda, TheDaily Monitor
reported recently that Tanzania had slapped a 25 per cent import duty
on sugar from Uganda, contrary to the zero rate recommendation by the
EAC Community Common Market Protocol.
The Uganda
Revenue Authority (URA) assistant commissioner for public and corporate
affairs, Mr Vincent Seruma, said at the weekend that sugar (alleged to
have been smuggled into Uganda from Kenya) that had been exported by a
private firm in May had been denied entry to Tanzania and forced to
return.
The firm, according to URA, had exported 12,000 bags of locally manufactured sugar.
Preferential treatment
“Under
the EAC Common Market Protocol, this [sugar] is supposed to enjoy
preferential treatment at 0 per cent Import Duty within in EAC partner
states because it is wholly produced in Uganda. However … Tanzania
decided to impose duty of 25 per cent, a violation of the EAC rules of
origin and the Common Market Protocol,” he said.
Commenting
further, President Magufuli said he was aware of reports that more than
20 trucks from neighbouring country carrying sugar have been seized at
Sirari along the Kenya-Tanzania border when they were trying to enter
the country illegally.
Following the Ugandan
President’s visit to Tanzania, the two heads of state held talks and
have pledged to speed up implementation of Uganda-Tanzania Crude Oil
Pipeline, among others.
The two presidents also pledged to strengthen socio-economic and diplomatic ties between the two governments.
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