Importing from China to Tanzania: two appointed inspectors, and neither is Chinese
Tanzania requires a Certificate of Conformity for regulated products, issued before shipment and needed for customs clearance. The official procedure puts the duty on the exporter to test the goods and obtain it, and names only two appointed inspection companies. Kenya appoints six, one of them Chinese, so the same factory faces different inspectors for each market.
Tanzania puts the conformity certificate on the exporter, before shipment, from one of only two appointed firms. Kenya appoints six, including a Chinese body.
The duty sits on the exporter, in writing
Tanzania's published procedure splits the responsibilities explicitly, and the split is the part a Chinese supplier needs to see. Importers are to ensure their suppliers are conversant with import quality requirements and that consignments containing regulated products are accompanied by a Certificate of Conformity. Exporters are to ensure their goods meet quality and regulatory requirements before shipment, by carrying out tests and obtaining the necessary certificate from the appointed partners.
So the testing and the certificate are the factory's side of the job, not the buyer's, which makes this a market where the China end does the work and the Tanzanian end checks that it was done. That is the same shape as Nigeria, where the exporter holds the upstream certificate, and different from Saudi Arabia, where the importer registers everything.
The rule itself is absolute in its wording: every consignment of imported goods containing regulated products shall be accompanied by a Certificate of Conformity issued by the country offices of the authorised contractors prior to shipment, and the certificate is required for customs clearance in Tanzania. The programme began on 1 February 2012, with the current contract arrangement running from 1 May 2015, and its guiding principle is stated as article 5 of the World Trade Organization agreement on technical barriers to trade, which requires that technical requirements applied to foreign products also apply to domestically manufactured ones.
Only two firms are appointed, and that matters more than it sounds
The Tanzania Bureau of Standards has appointed two inspection companies to run the programme: SGS and Bureau Veritas. Compare that with Kenya, whose bureau appoints six across nineteen global zones, one of which is China Certification and Inspection Group, a Chinese body working in the exporter's own market and language.
For a buyer that difference is invisible; for a Chinese factory it is not. The same product going to two East African neighbours is inspected by a different set of firms, on different booking systems, with different lead times. A factory that has done Kenyan consignments has not necessarily done Tanzanian ones, and asking which certificates a supplier has actually obtained is a better question than asking whether they export to Africa.
The verification itself is a combination rather than a single act: physical inspection, laboratory testing, factory audit and documentary verification, applied as the case requires. What the exporter submits to start it is a request for certification, the proforma invoice, and the conformity documents, meaning test reports, quality certificates and analysis reports.
| Route | What it involves | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| A, shipment inspection and certification | Products must be both tested and physically inspected to demonstrate conformity | One-off or infrequent shipments, and unknown exporters |
| B, product registration and shipment certification | A fast-track process after the contractor registers products of reasonable and consistent quality, with self-declaration of compliance | Exporters with frequent shipments of homogenous products |
| C, product licensing and shipment certification | Audit of the production process and licensing of the products made by it | Manufacturers who can demonstrate a quality management system |
The route is a fact about your factory, and it compounds
As in Kenya, the route is not a price tier you pick. It follows from how well the contractor knows the supplier and how regular the shipments are. Route A tests and physically inspects every consignment. Route B registers the products first and then moves faster on each shipment, and is recommended where an exporter ships homogenous products frequently. Route C is open only to manufacturers who can demonstrate a quality management system in their production process, and licenses the products that process makes.
So the cost and the delay on your tenth shipment depend on a decision taken around your first. A factory already registered or licensed under this programme carries less inspection on every future order than one starting on Route A, and over a year of repeat orders that difference is money rather than paperwork. It belongs in the supplier comparison next to the unit price, which is the argument our factory versus trading company guide makes generally.
It also argues against switching suppliers casually once one is working. A change of factory is a change of route, and the second factory starts at the beginning of the programme however good its product is.
What this page will not tell you, and why
It will not tell you the penalty for goods arriving without a certificate. A figure of fifteen per cent circulates widely for Tanzania, and it is not in the official procedure document we read, which states the certificate requirement and its role in customs clearance but not a sanction.
We are being deliberate about that, because we did verify the equivalent figure for Kenya: the Kenyan government's own guidelines state destination inspection at a penalty fee equivalent to fifteen per cent of the customs value. Two neighbouring countries with comparable programmes, one figure verified and one not, is exactly the situation where copying the verified number across would be easy and wrong. Ask the Tanzania Bureau of Standards or your clearing agent for the current sanction, and ask them to name the instrument.
This page also quotes no Tanzanian duty rate, because no Tanzanian tariff source was opened and checked, and it does not describe the product scope, because the regulated list is maintained by the bureau rather than set out in the procedure summary. Get the list from the bureau before you order, not before you ship.
What we can do for a Tanzanian buyer, and what we cannot
Because the certificate is the exporter's duty, this is a market where the China-end work is the whole of the compliance job: finding and vetting the factory, establishing whether it is already registered or licensed under the programme or starting at Route A, assembling the request for certification with the proforma invoice and the conformity documents, arranging the testing and the physical inspection with the appointed partner, and making sure the goods inspected are the goods that ship. Then the ordinary work of negotiating, sampling, inspecting before payment and loading.
On commercial terms, we can quote a price to your own destination port, so Dar es Salaam or Tanga, and ex-works or a price to a Chinese port is there instead if your own freight forwarder is handling the sea leg. Door-to-door with duty and taxes included depends on the destination; ask, and we will tell you plainly which one applies.
What we do not do is clear goods, advise on Tanzanian import law or act as your clearing agent, and we do not hold the certificate: it is issued to the exporter by the appointed partner. Tell us the product and say the goods are going to Tanzania in the first message, because whether it is a regulated product decides what has to happen in China before anything ships. The wider picture is in the guide to buying from China from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Who obtains the Certificate of Conformity for Tanzania, me or my supplier?
The exporter. Tanzania's published procedure says exporters are to ensure their goods meet quality and regulatory requirements before shipment by carrying out tests and obtaining the necessary certificate from the appointed partners, while importers ensure their suppliers know the requirements and that consignments are accompanied by one.
Which firms can issue it?
The Tanzania Bureau of Standards has appointed two inspection companies, SGS and Bureau Veritas. That is worth checking against Kenya, which appoints six including China Certification and Inspection Group, so a Chinese factory experienced with Kenyan consignments has not necessarily dealt with the Tanzanian partners.
What are the three certification routes?
Route A inspects and tests every shipment. Route B registers products of reasonable and consistent quality first and then fast-tracks each shipment, suiting exporters with frequent homogenous shipments. Route C is open only to manufacturers who can demonstrate a quality management system, and licenses the products their process makes.
What is the penalty for arriving without a certificate?
We do not say, because the official procedure document we read states the requirement but not a sanction. A fifteen per cent figure circulates for Tanzania; we verified that figure for Kenya from a Kenyan government document, and copying it across would be easy and wrong. Ask the bureau or your clearing agent, and ask which instrument sets it.