Tanzania Customs (TRA)
Tanzania Customs — the Customs and Excise department of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) — is Tanzania's customs authority, responsible for clearing imports and exports, collecting customs duties, import VAT and excise, and enforcing trade and border controls. It administers Tanzania's tariff under the East African Community (EAC) Common External Tariff and the EAC Customs Union rules.
Clearance is handled electronically through the Tanzania Customs Integrated System (TANCIS), into which importers and clearing agents lodge declarations, with risk-based processing. As Tanzania is a coastal gateway for landlocked neighbours — Zambia, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Uganda — via the Central Corridor from Dar es Salaam, TRA also handles substantial transit trade. For anyone importing into or exporting from Tanzania, or moving cargo in transit through it, understanding Tanzania Customs, TANCIS and the EAC framework is essential to clearance and compliance. It governs Tanzania's borders and its regional gateway trade.
Tanzania Customs (TRA) governs all Tanzanian trade under the EAC framework via its TANCIS system — and, crucially, the substantial transit trade for landlocked neighbours moving cargo through the Central Corridor from Dar es Salaam. Understanding the TRA, TANCIS and the EAC rules is fundamental to clearing goods in and through Tanzania.
What tariff does Tanzania apply?
The East African Community (EAC) Common External Tariff, under the EAC Customs Union, administered by TRA Customs.
What system does Tanzania use for clearance?
TANCIS (the Tanzania Customs Integrated System), into which declarations are lodged with risk-based processing.