Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) Regulations, 2009 (G.N. No. 405 of 2009)

3.-(1) Any importer of products covered by compulsory Tanzania Application for   Standards shall at least one week before the arrival of the import batch certification   shipment, apply to the Bureau for the Batch Certificate.         (2) An application made under sub-regulation (1) of these Regulations     2 Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) G N. No. 405 (contd.)     shall be made in the prescribed forms obtainable from the Bureau or         the Tanzania Revenue Authority.         (3) The applicant shall declare the port of entry in making an     application under these Regulations, and submit to the Bureau the         application forms in triplicates together with the documents listed     below:-         (a) packing list;         (b) invoice;     (c) bill of lading or airway bill, or road consignment note;     (d) clean report of findings from competent authority of the     exporting country, if available; and         (e) test certificate from the country of origin as issued by the     National Standards Body thereof; or its recognized testing     authority in that country establishing conformity of the import     shipment to the requirements of the Tanzania Standards, or         Bureau's recognized International or foreign standards.     (4) Where the products covered by the Compulsory Tanzania   Standards include food products, the test certificate under paragraph     (e) of sub-regulations (3) of these Regulations shall indicate that the   foods or food products are consumable in their country of origin.    

4.-(1) An import shipment or consignment shall be sampled by the   Sampling of   products inspector and evaluated by the Bureau's duly authorized personnel to   determine its compliance with the requirements of the applicable   Tanzania standards or the Bureau's recognized international or foreign     standards.     (2) Notwithstanding sub-regulation (1) of these Regulations, where   bilateral agreement has been signed between the Bureau and the     exporting country's National Standards Body or recognized accredited   laboratory abroad to do the inspection and evaluation on behalf of the   Bureau, the Bureau shall issue Batch Certificate to the importer   without collecting samples for further evaluation.     Randomly 5.-(1) Where shipments have been certified abroad under sub-   picked up samples regulation 4(2) of these Regulations, random samples may be taken   from the shipment or after release of the shipment and retested by the     Bureau.     (2) Where the randomly picked up samples of the imported shipment   reveal inconsistencies of the quality of the actual imported products     with the test certificates issued in the country of origin, all further   3 Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) G N. No. 405 (contd.)   subsequent shipments of these products from that country shall be     subjected to individual shipment sampling and testing by the Bureau,   regardless of the certification abroad.     (3) Individual sampling and testing under sub-regulation (2) of these     Regulations shall continue until such a time that consistent quality of   the test certificates issued by the country of origin is re-established to   the satisfaction of the Bureau.       (4) Where the importer fails to re-establish quality of the test   certificates issued by the country of origin to the satisfaction of the   Bureau, the bilateral agreement may be terminated and the Bureau   shall carry out all inspections, sampling and testing of all the products     from the country.    

6.-(1) The Bureau may, in tight supply situations, issue separate Guidelines guidelines relating to the implementation of the Batch Certification for     the products.     (2) The guidelines, issued under sub-regulation (1) of these     Regulations, shall have concurrence with the respective industry,   importers, the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and   Agriculture and the Tanzania Revenue Authority.    

7. Where products imported into Tanzania are manufactured by The Bureau’s foreign companies licensed to use the TBS Standards Mark by the Standards Mark Bureau, the importer/agent of such products shall not be required to apply for a Batch Certificate.

8.-(1) Where the imported commodity complies with the requirements Issuance of Batch of the applicable Tanzania Standard or the Bureau's recognized Certificates or     International or Foreign standard, the Bureau shall issue a Batch CoCs   Certificate or CoC on a per shipment or consignment basis as may be     revealed on the bill of lading or airway bill, or road consignment note.             (2) The Batch Certificate or CoC issued under sub-regulation (1) of     these Regulations shall be duly signed and sealed by the Director       General or any other officer appointed by the Director General.         (3) The Batch Certificate or CoC issued under these regulations shall Imports form the basis for the importer to use the Imports Standards Mark Standards Mark   (ISM)   (ISM) in respect of the commodities detailed on the particular bill of   lading or airway bill or road consignment note.         (4) The importer shall submit to the Bureau the Bar Code details for     4 Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) G N. No. 405 (contd.)     all products detailed on respective bill of lading or airway bill or road         consignment note for purposes of product identification during market     surveillance.         (5) An official letter shall be issued by the Bureau to the importer         authorizing him to print stickers of the Imports Standards Mark for the     quantities detailed on the bill of lading or airway bill or road     consignment note.             (6) Electronic verification of authenticity of the Imports Standards     Mark shall be carried out by the Bureau during market surveillance     inspections based on bar codes traceable to the Bureau's database. Any     mark not traceable to the Bureau's database shall be treated as illegal         and the owners shall be traced for appropriate legal actions.       Products below 9.-(1) No person shall in any manner unload for the Tanzania market   standards any commodities or products not conforming to the requirements of     the Tanzania standards or the commodity or product on which no   Batch Certificate or CoC has been issued by the Bureau.     (2) Any product or commodity which does not conform to the     requirements of the Tanzania Standard may be re-exported to its   country of origin or disposed of within the United Republic of   Tanzania.     (3) The disposal of the commodities under sub-regulation (2) of these   Regulations shall take cognizance of the environment. (4) An importer or agents whose commodities or products are subject to re-exportation or disposal under sub-regulation (2) of these Regulations shall bear the costs for re-exportation or disposal of the products as the case may be. PART III ISSUE OF CONDITIONAL RELEASE CERTIFICATE Conditional Release 10(1) Where the importer has complied with customs requirements Certificate and if a hundred percent (100%) inspection and testing of the shipment is needed, and completion of tests will take more than twenty working days, due to the nature of testing specifications and procedure, the Bureau may issue Conditional Release Certificate of an import shipment from the custom's custody. (2) No person shall, pending the issuance of the Batch Certificate, 5 Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) G N. No. 405 (contd.)   distribute, sell, use or transfer the shipment or consignment either in part or in whole to any person or any place other than the address specified in the Conditional Release Certificate. PART IV DISPOSITION OF SAMPLES 11 – (1) The Bureau shall for a period of two weeks after the issuance Disposition of of Batch Certificate, retain all remaining samples drawn from a samples shipment after the necessary conformity test. (2) The importer or owner of the samples retained under sub- regulation (1) of these Regulations shall be required to collect the samples from the Bureau after the expiry of two weeks from the date of issuance of Batch Certificate. (3) Where the importer fails to collect the samples after the due date as required under sub-regulation (2) of these Regulations, the Bureau shall have power to dispose of the samples in accordance with the standing procedures of the Bureau. PART V FEES AND PENALTIES 12(1) An importer or his agent has the duty to pay fees to the Bureau. Chargeable fees (2) The fees charged under sub-regulation (1) of these Regulations shall include:- (a) a non-refundable application fee payable upon filling the application forms; (b) transport, boarding and lodging costs of the Bureau's inspectors during the inspection and sampling of the shipment; (c) testing fees which include all expenses pertaining to testing of samples by the Bureau or any other accredited laboratory as clearly recalled in the schedule of fees available from the Bureau; and (d) batch certificate fee or fees equivalent to 0.2% of the Cost and Freight ("C" and "F") value which covers guarantee cost as well as random market surveillance samples after release of the consignment to the market. 6 Standards (Compulsory Batch Certification of Imports) G N. No. 405 (contd.)   (3) Where the quantity of imports has been verified at source by a designated PVoC Contractor, the fees payable to the Bureau shall be in accordance with the PVoC Contract. General penalty   13. Any person who contravenes any of these regulations commits an   offence and on conviction, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term     not less than two years or to a fine not less than fifty million shillings   and not exceeding one hundred million shillings or to both.       Dar es Salaam, MARY M. NAGU ………….., 2009 Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing 7