East African Business Week (Kampala)
(Mr Leandri Kinabo, the Acting Director of TBS talks to traders during the meeting Photo By Kenan Kalagho)Dar es Salaam — East African countries will soon realize the dream of controlling counterfeit products entering in the region.
Should EAadopt the use of Pre-Export Verification of Conformity to Standards (PVoC) as Tanzania mainland looks into the possibility of how to control goods entering through to its market via Zanzibar.
Speaking to East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam recently, the Acting Director General of Tanzania Bureau of Standards, Mr. Leandri Kinabo, said Tanzania mainland was facing challenges in controlling goods entering the market through Zanzibar.
He said Tanzania mainland and the Tanzania Bureau of Standards ( TBS) has no mandate to control products through Zanzibar as they are not a Union matter.
"All we can do is create awareness and enhance publicity and public education but we cannot control products coming in through Zanzibar" the TBS acting boss said.
He said there was need to educate the public on the effects of counterfeits to their lives and the country at large in order to make the exercise of controlling and containing both counterfeit and substandard goods entering Tanzania.
It should be noted that a lot of trade agreements have been signed between Zanzibar and many other countries especially the Gulf States located on the South-West Asia, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. If goods from such countries entering Zanzibar are not scrutinized, Zanzibar might become a gate way through which counterfeit and substandard products might find their way to the local market.
Many Tanzanian traders prefer to import their goods through to Zanzibar that includes utensils, electronics, and many other equipment which are cheaper than those imported through Dar es Salaam port where they end up paying higher taxes and making little in profit.
Mr. Suleiman Iddi, a trader in electric appliances at the Kariakoo markets in Dar es Salaam says besides the higher taxes, the delays due to congestion of the port also make importers prefer Zanzibar to Dar port.
Of recent many Dar residents have found themselves preferring to buy vehicles in Zanzibar showrooms, electric and other appliances because they are cheaper.
However Mr. Kinabo said that that there will soon be an end of counterfeit products entering Tanzania and the East African market once all the regional blocs adopt the use of the pre-export Verification of conformity to standard (PVoC) system which is currently being implemented by Tanzania since February this year.
He said that the program of PVoC has been in use in Kenya since 2005 where it proved successful and is to be implemented in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi in order to make it easy for the region to contain counterfeit products flooding the market.
Speaking to East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam recently, the Acting Director General of Tanzania Bureau of Standards, Mr. Leandri Kinabo, said Tanzania mainland was facing challenges in controlling goods entering the market through Zanzibar.
He said Tanzania mainland and the Tanzania Bureau of Standards ( TBS) has no mandate to control products through Zanzibar as they are not a Union matter.
"All we can do is create awareness and enhance publicity and public education but we cannot control products coming in through Zanzibar" the TBS acting boss said.
He said there was need to educate the public on the effects of counterfeits to their lives and the country at large in order to make the exercise of controlling and containing both counterfeit and substandard goods entering Tanzania.
It should be noted that a lot of trade agreements have been signed between Zanzibar and many other countries especially the Gulf States located on the South-West Asia, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. If goods from such countries entering Zanzibar are not scrutinized, Zanzibar might become a gate way through which counterfeit and substandard products might find their way to the local market.
Many Tanzanian traders prefer to import their goods through to Zanzibar that includes utensils, electronics, and many other equipment which are cheaper than those imported through Dar es Salaam port where they end up paying higher taxes and making little in profit.
Mr. Suleiman Iddi, a trader in electric appliances at the Kariakoo markets in Dar es Salaam says besides the higher taxes, the delays due to congestion of the port also make importers prefer Zanzibar to Dar port.
Of recent many Dar residents have found themselves preferring to buy vehicles in Zanzibar showrooms, electric and other appliances because they are cheaper.
However Mr. Kinabo said that that there will soon be an end of counterfeit products entering Tanzania and the East African market once all the regional blocs adopt the use of the pre-export Verification of conformity to standard (PVoC) system which is currently being implemented by Tanzania since February this year.
He said that the program of PVoC has been in use in Kenya since 2005 where it proved successful and is to be implemented in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi in order to make it easy for the region to contain counterfeit products flooding the market.
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