Importing from China to Tanzania: customs, TBS and PVoC in 2026

According to UN Comtrade, China exported about 8.17 billion dollars worth of goods to Tanzania in 2024; more recent estimates could not be confirmed against an official source. In 2024, electrical and electronic equipment led with 1.02 billion dollars, followed by vehicles and spare parts, machinery and industrial equipment, then plastics.

The port of Dar es Salaam handles about 95% of the country's international trade and also serves as an entry point for landlocked neighbouring countries: Chinese goods imported into Tanzania can feed regional trade through the central corridor, beyond the domestic market alone.

Tanzania is a member of the East African Community and applies the regional customs union's common external tariff: our sources found no direct bilateral free trade agreement with China that would lower this import tariff. The duty free access China has granted since 1 May 2026 to African countries with diplomatic relations with it works in the other direction, making it easier for Tanzanian exports to reach China.

Customs clearance is governed by the East African Community Customs Management Act of 2004, which requires a licensed customs agent and the TANCIS electronic system. Documents must be submitted at least seven days before the vessel's arrival.

Since 1 July 2022, the East African Community's common external tariff has four bands: 0% for raw materials and capital goods, 10% for intermediate goods, 25% for finished goods, and a fourth band at 35% to protect industries considered sufficiently developed in the region, including textiles, furniture, sugar and steel. On top of this come 18% VAT, a 2% railway development levy on the CIF value under the 2024 finance act, and a customs processing fee of 0.6% of the FOB value.

Example for goods in the 25% band, CIF value of 10,000 dollars: customs duty 2,500 dollars, railway levy 200 dollars, processing fee about 55 dollars, then 18% VAT on the total, about 2,296 dollars. The overall total then approaches 50% of the CIF value, not counting any excise duty specific to certain products, to be confirmed with a customs agent.

The importer must go through a licensed customs agent, who declares the goods on the Tanzania Revenue Authority's TANCIS system before the vessel arrives. The standard file gathers the commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading or air waybill, the certificate of origin and, for regulated products, the PVoC certificate of conformity described below.

Transport insurance and a customs value declaration consistent with the factory invoice complete the file: a discrepancy with the value assessed by the Tanzania Revenue Authority delays clearance.

The Tanzania Bureau of Standards sets national standards and has entrusted their pre-shipment verification to a programme called PVoC, Pre-Export Verification of Conformity, introduced on 1 January 2012 through a first appointed body, since joined by several accredited agents present in China's export zones. The certificate of conformity obtained before loading is a condition for clearance in Dar es Salaam: a shipment without this certificate risks being held or subjected to an additional inspection at the importer's expense.

Three certification routes exist depending on the product, its consistency and the frequency of shipments. Fees range from 250 to 5,000 dollars per shipment depending on the source consulted: ask for a precise quote before starting production.

The East African Community Customs Management Act distinguishes prohibited goods, banned without exception, from restricted goods, which may still enter under licence. The full list is on the official Tanzanian trade portal and deserves a line by line check before placing any order, as it changes over time.

Importing large quantities of used clothing intended for resale is discouraged to protect the local textile industry, while small quantities for personal use remain tolerated. Used vehicles follow a taxation regime based on their age and engine size, calculated by the Tanzania Revenue Authority's valuation system: the exact thresholds could not be confirmed against an official source, to be checked directly with the authority before any shipment.

The port of Dar es Salaam has twelve berths along 2,600 metres of quay, with a draft of 14.5 metres at berths 0 to 7, for a declared capacity of 14.1 million tonnes of general cargo. It handles most of the country's foreign trade and feeds corridors to Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda.

From southern China, containerised freight most often leaves from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Yantian for Dar es Salaam; we found no single verifiable transit time, ask your freight forwarder at the time of booking. FOB from southern China suits a buyer who arranges transport themselves; CIF or CFR suit cases where an intermediary handles it through to the Tanzanian port. DDP remains inadvisable as long as the Chinese seller is not itself a licensed customs declarant in Tanzania, which is rarely the case.

On payment, common practice remains a deposit on order followed by a balance before shipment, paid exclusively into the Chinese company's business account, never a personal account: a change of bank details received by email should be verified with a direct phone call before any transfer.

A first order follows a set sequence: specifications, factory verification, approved sample, proforma invoice with incoterm, PVoC file started in parallel if the product is regulated, production follow-up, pre-shipment inspection, certificate of conformity, freight to Dar es Salaam, then clearance by the client or their local freight forwarder.

Sorva is a sourcing and trading house based in Guangzhou, in the Tianhe district, backed by a Chinese subsidiary whose corporate purpose covers purchasing, resale and export of goods, and by a parent company in France. Our Chinese-speaking team finds and verifies factories, organises visits and samples, negotiates, has quality checked before loading and arranges freight to the port of Dar es Salaam, while gathering the documents needed for the PVoC file. We never act as the official importer in Tanzania, do not clear customs locally, and do not export vehicles ourselves without going through a licensed Chinese exporter. Our base offer is invoiced in dollars, with zone options quoted on request. Contact: [email protected] or WhatsApp +33 6 15 55 62 52.