An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Tanzania

Table II.12. List of Chemical Fertilizers Used in Tanzania (Mineral Fertilizers)
quality. For importers, a batch certificate is issued
after inspection. TBS has inspectors at the ports, airports,
and on road borders’ posts. They claim that all
samples are cleared within 72 hours. There is harmonization
with Kenya in the area of inspections and
testing, and the Kenya Bureau of Standards certificates
are accepted in Tanzania.
Transportation
According to the two large trucking companies in
Tanzania—Cargo Star (also stevedoring, clearing and
forwarding, and shipping agency) and Abri Transport—
about 60%-70% of the goods from the port are transported
by rail and the balance by road. The roads to the
south are in good condition (Iringa, Mbeya), but the
road from Dodoma to Kigoma and other roads in that
area are in poor condition. Therefore, shipment to most
of these areas is by rail.
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Rail Transport—Two rail systems operate in Tanzania:
Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA)
and TRC. TAZARA caters for all the goods traffic for
Zambia imported through Dar es Salaam. TRC caters
to all the traffic within Tanzania, and also transit goods
for land-locked countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Sometimes a
number of wagons are dedicated to one particular country.
Thus, availability of wagons (net capacity 40 tons)
is a major constraint in rail shipments and clients have
to wait a number of days to make shipments by rail.
Since the port allows only a 7-day clearance period
with a charge of $1/ton per day after that, most importers
have to store goods in interim warehouses in Dar es
Salaam ($3.5/ton transport cost from the port to the
warehouse and $1/ton storage charge for 7-10 days).
Open wagons are given for fertilizers; to prevent pilferage,
which is fairly rampant, one security guard has