Customs valuation and rulings in Tanzania

The legal basis

The WTO Secretariat review of the EAC, WT/TPR/S/384 of 13 February 2019, says customs valuation in the EAC is broadly based on the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement. It cites section 122 and the Fourth Schedule of the EAC Customs Management Act, 2004 ¹.

Under section 37(2)(a) of the Act, the officer may allow entry of goods liable to ad valorem duty only if satisfied that the declared value is in line with the Fourth Schedule ³. Under section 2(2)(c), the time of importation is when the goods come within the boundaries of the Partner States ³.

TRA says import duty is an ad valorem or specific rate charged on the CIF value. For ad valorem excise, the base is the CIF value plus import duty ⁴.

How values are checked

The WTO review says transaction value is the main method and the authorities reported no minimum values ¹. A customs valuation manual was developed in 2012 ¹.

The EAC Secretariat issues Product Identification Bulletins that give possible origins and past FOB values for high-risk products. Declared values outside those ranges are researched further. The review calls these guidelines, not a formal database ¹.

For used vehicles, the review says methods based on domestic retail prices are used, with an approved depreciation rate. In 2015 the Council of Ministers set rates from 20% for one-year-old vehicles to 80% for vehicles ten years old or over ¹. It says no EAC country uses pre-shipment or destination inspection for valuation ¹.

Changes made in 2025

The EAC Customs Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 was assented on 30 November 2024 and came into force on 26 September 2025. Section 18 amends section 122 and section 19 replaces section 124 ².

• New section 122(1A): the EAC Council issues directives on ad valorem values for used goods ².
• Section 122(7): the words when an entry is presented to and accepted by the proper officer are replaced with at the time the goods are entered ².
• New section 122(8): where the cost of insurance cannot be found, the Commissioner applies an insurance cost at a rate the Council sets ².
• New section 124: no duty is collected where the customs value of imported goods is fifty dollars or less ².

Provisional entry and later proof of value

Section 38 of the Act treats some entries as provisional. The owner must then make a perfect entry, backed by evidence of value, within three months or a longer period the proper officer allows. If not, the deposit is forfeited ³.

Rulings before you import

Sections 11 to 14 of the Tax Administration Act, Cap. 438, Revised Edition 2023, let a person apply in writing for a private ruling on how a tax law applies to an arrangement. A ruling binds the Commissioner General only after full and true disclosure and only if the arrangement goes ahead as described. The Commissioner General may refuse for listed reasons, such as too little information, and must give reasons in writing ⁵.

Section 3(3) says tax law, for this Act, does not include the EAC Customs Management Act. Section 6 deals with how the Act relates to customs law ⁵. No customs advance ruling procedure for classification, origin or value was confirmed in the sources read for this page.

A Ghanaian manufacturer of glass fibre-reinforced polymer bars filed a complaint on the AfCFTA non-tariff barrier platform on 24 March 2025. It said TRA's reply of 17 February 2025 failed to give guidance or an advance ruling on tariff classification and rate. The reply cited too few documents and too little justification. The platform marks the case resolved on 26 June 2025. Its note says the Ghana Revenue Authority agreed at a second meeting to verify the product's origin criteria ⁶.

Disputing a customs value

• File a notice of objection in writing within 30 days of service of the decision, with grounds and documents. Customs matters go to the Commissioner for Customs and Excise ⁷.
• For customs duty, the full duty or tax assessed on the imports must be paid when the objection is filed ⁷.
• Appeal to the Tax Revenue Appeals Board: serve notice within 30 days of the final determination and lodge the appeal within 45 days ⁷.
• Appeal to the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal: notice within 15 days of the Board's decision and appeal within 30 days. Appeals to the Court of Appeal are on points of law only ⁷.
• In Samson Ngw'alida v. Commissioner General (TRA), Civil Appeal No. 86 of 2008, a customs seizure case, the Court of Appeal held on 8 November 2011 that the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal was the right forum for the appeal under sections 230 and 231 of the EAC Customs Management Act. It sent the case back to be heard on its merits ⁸.