Tanzania Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in tanzania, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Standards
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Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade   

Overview  

The Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has jurisdiction over all standards issues in the country. TBS standards generally follow internationally accepted norms. In a few cases, TBS has adopted standards to harmonize with East African Community members (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi). TBS has developed a comprehensive website (TBS) with access to detailed publications and information on standards regulations. 

Standards and Technical Regulations

. The TBS issues certification of standards (e.g., ISO 9000) mainly for manufactured products. TBS is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and represents Tanzania in all international standards work. It is the National Enquiry Point for WTO-TBT/SPS Agreements in Tanzania. TBS also manages information on technical regulations, adopted and proposed standards, conformity assessment procedures, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.  TBS is also a member of the East African Community Bureau of Standards and the South African Development Community Committee of Experts for Standards, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology.  

TBS is a participating member to the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the Joint FAO and WHO and is fully represented on technical issues concerning standards and quality.   

Testing, Inspection and Certification  

The Testing and Calibration Department is composed of seven laboratories: the Food and Microbiology Laboratory, the Chemistry Laboratory, the Textile and Leather Laboratory, the Electrical Engineering Laboratory, the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, the Building and Construction Laboratory, and the Metrology Laboratory. The laboratories provide facilities for the testing of products to ensure their conformity to the requirements of relevant standards, and calibration of precision instruments and measuring and scientific equipment for various clients.   

TBS implements and certifies third party standards, carries out pre-export/pre-import inspection and testing, and conducts calibration of industrial and commercial measuring equipment and instruments. 

TBS product certification require that products comply with the requirements and characteristics of the relevant standards. These requirements and characteristics are quality, material, composition, design, safety, durability and performance. 

Pre-shipment Verification of Conformity (PVoC) is a conformity assessment procedure used to verify that products to be imported into Tanzania are in conformity with applicable national standards before shipment. It is the conformity assessment and verification procedure to specific goods at exporting countries. It is provided for by section 4(1) (s) of the Standards Act No. 2 of 2009. 

Before shipping to Tanzania all consignments subject to PVoC must obtain the mandatory custom clearance documents and certificate of conformity (CoC) without which the commodities arriving at Tanzanian Ports will be rejected or fined.  For a list of goods that need to be tested for conformity before entering Tanzania, please visit TBS list of goods for testing (attachment 2) 

Publication of Technical Regulations 

TBS has published more than 1500 standards in the fields of agriculture and food chemicals, textiles, leather, general techniques, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, building and construction. The standards are available on its website (http://www.tbs.go.tz)

Contact Information Website: www.tbs.go.tz; www.eac-quality.net.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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