Importers and exporters in the country have been challenged to process shipment of cargo in time to enjoy profits and minimise unnecessary extra costs as a result of delays.
The President of the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA), Mr Stephen Ngatunga made these remarks yesterday while opening a one-day symposium aimed at educating importers and exporters on the importance of punctuality.
The symposium brought together more than 150 participants from Dar es Salaam. Mr Ngatunga said a majority of the importers and exporters are ignorant, thus the Association together with Trade Africa organised the training on proper channels to be followed.
He said in many cases importers are to blame for delays in the clearance of cargo, although the blame is heaped on revenue and ports authorities. Mr Ngatunga gave an example of how importers keep shipping document to themselves and then hand over the same documents to a clearing agent when the ship docks, thus complicating matters.
“You complain of delays in clearance of your cargo, but you hand over documents when the ship is already at the port, thus the agent has to go the extra mile to ensure that you pay for the storage for a few days as you do not qualify for the fee grace period for storage,” he said.
He said freight agents face a number of challenges in such situations as some do not have all required documents. “If you have all your documents at hand and know which are to be given to the agents and which you remain with, you will have your cargo cleared within a short time, thus reducing the cost of doing business,” said Mr Ngatunga.
Trade Africa Programme Officer, Ms Monica Hangi said her organisation will conduct similar training countrywide to equip importers and exporters with the knowledge on facilitating growth and advise on how to compete with their counterparts in East Africa.
By NELLY MTEMA, Tanzania Daily News
