Importers face delays as system outage affects clearance at Dar es Salaam port

Dar es Salaam. Clearing and forwarding agents have raised concerns over a system outage that has caused delays in clearance resulting in added waiting charges at the port of Dar es Salaam.

The Tanzania Electronic Single Window System (TeSWS) and Tanzania Customs Integrated System (Tancis) have been facing outages for more than a week now, they say, calling for urgent action.

“It is unfortunate because the institutions managing the systems have not issued any formal notice or communication to let us know what the problem is,” said the Executive Secretary of the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (Taffa), Mr Elitunu Mallmia, speaking to The Citizen.

He explained that the major challenge they were facing is the delay in clearing cargo intended for transit and the delivery of goods to customers through the port. “The challenge is that the inland container depots (ICDs) count storage days that have exceeded the limit, thus increasing costs for importers,” he said.

When clients receive bills, they reject the extra cost on the grounds that they had issued their bills on time, ultimately increasing costs and leading to losses for the freight forwarders.

The platforms on which declarations are made allow other institutions such as the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to see them on the single window and issue permits to allow cargo clearance. However, when the systems are down, this cannot be done, causing delays.

He added that another challenge is when containers are delayed in being returned within the specified time, demurrage fees are added. “The charge arises inside the terminal when the container is not retrieved within the grace period (free time) expires,” he said.

Responding to the issue, the acting director for taxpayer education and communication at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Mr Hudson Kamoga, admitted that there had been challenges for some days.

However, he noted that the problem had been resolved and services were back on track. “The system has returned back to normal since Thursday evening,” he said.