TASAC and its shipping and clearing role

Legal basis

TASAC says it was set up under the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Act, Cap. 415, to regulate and control maritime transport in Mainland Tanzania ¹. TanzLII gives the assent date as 28 November 2017. The Act applies to maritime transport services in Mainland Tanzania (section 2) ⁴.

Section 64 repealed the Tanzania Central Freight Bureau Act and the Shipping Agency Act. Section 68 moved maritime regulatory functions to the Corporation ⁴. The TanzLII text read for this guide is the version of 30 June 2019. It lists Finance Act amendments of 1 July 2021 and 1 July 2022 as not yet applied ⁴. TASAC posted amendments to several of its own regulations on 27 June 2024, among them shippers registration, ship tallying and cargo security ⁸.

Goods only TASAC may clear

Section 7(1)(a) of the 2019 TanzLII text gives the Corporation the exclusive mandate for clearing and forwarding imports and exports of listed goods. The list covers minerals, petroleum products, firearms and ammunition, live animals, fertilizers, sugar, edible oil, wheat, gas and chemicals. The Minister may add goods by order in the Gazette ⁴.

A TASAC page dated 2 February 2023 gives a shorter list. It names arms and explosives, mineral concentrates, chemicals used by mining companies, government trophies and live animals as defined in the Wildlife Conservation Act ². The two lists differ. The later Finance Act amendments are not shown in the TanzLII text ⁴. Check the current list with TASAC before shipping these goods ².

Breaking the exclusive mandate is an offence. Section 7(3) sets a fine of at least US$20,000, at least two years in prison, or both ⁴.

What TASAC clearing staff do

TASAC lists these tasks for its clearing and forwarding work at ports, airports, border points and other places approved by customs ².

• Check import and export documents and track permits from other authorities ²
• Prepare customs declarations in the customs systems and monitor tax payments ²
• Follow up shipping documents from shipping agents and take part in cargo inspections ²
• Track port charges invoices and arrange cargo transport ²
• Advise importers and exporters on customs procedures ²

Registration and licences

Section 12(1) lists the Corporation's regulatory functions. They include issuing, renewing and cancelling licences, regulating rates and charges, monitoring freight rates and surcharges, and registering shippers, shipping agents and clearing and forwarding agents ⁴. TASAC lists consolidators and de-consolidators among the providers it regulates ³.

A person who wants to run a shipping agency applies to the Director General (section 13). The applicant must be a Tanzanian citizen or a company with more than 60 percent of its shares held by Tanzanian citizens ⁴. The Director General must refuse a licence if the applicant or a shareholder is a ship owner, ship operator, charterer, dry port operator or clearing and forwarding agent ⁴.

TRA asks a renewing customs agent for a TASAC certificate of registration for clearing and forwarding ⁷.

Capped shipping agency fees

The Tanzania Shipping Agencies (Local Shipping Agency Fees) Order, 2023 was published as GN 375 on 26 May 2023 under section 28(3) of the Act. It applies to licensed shipping agents and repealed two earlier orders ⁵.

Other tariffs and contacts

TASAC publishes its tariff orders online. The newest listed on 24 October 2026 was the Dry Port Tariff Order, 2026, dated 22 September 2026 ⁶. The amounts in that order were not checked for this guide ⁶.

TASAC gives importcfa@tasac.go.tz for import cargo and exportcfa@tasac.go.tz for export cargo ². Its head office is in the PSSSF Golden Jubilee Building, Ohio Street, Dar es Salaam ¹.