To enhance trade facilitation and to promote partnerships as required by the World Customs Organization’s SAFE framework of standards, the government of Tanzania carried out significant reforms such as the establishment of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) through its revenue body (TRA) which aimed at enabling the compliant traders to benefit from the special treatment at the regional level throughout the cargo clearance process. Despite the efforts and initiatives taken, much is to be done to ensure efficiency in custom clearance processes.

According to Logistics Performance Index, the efficiency of customs clearance in Tanzania is 2.17 (1=low to 5=high), with a global rank of 130 globally. According to the Legatum prosperity index, the country ranked 53 out of 167 countries globally in the aspect of efficiency of the customs clearance process. Compared to its neighboring countries, Tanzania scored 2.78, followed by Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda, which scored 2.67, 2.65, and 2.61, respectively. The least-performing countries were Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Burundi at the bottom (See the figure below)

Information across sources identifies issues like poor ICT infrastructures, bureaucratic import clearance procedures, corruption, and the unlimited number of staff, among others, as hindrances to effective custom clearance processes in Tanzania.

To bridge this gap, the government of Tanzania should improve ICT infrastructures to reduce the time in clearance procedures and corruption, increase the number of qualified staff to improve efficiency, and set effective policies for monitoring compliance units. Furthermore, the TRA should diversify and strengthen its ICT infrastructures, such as Tanzania Customs Integrated System (TANCIS), to facilitate more paperless operations, reducing business costs.

Picture source :TRA