Tanzania customs and trade systems

Customs computer system: TANCIS

TRA says TANCIS, the Tanzania Customs Integrated System, is web based and replaced ASYCUDA++, which had been in use in Tanzania since 2005 ¹.

TRA launched an enhanced TANCIS and a new website in Dar es Salaam on 20 January 2025. It says 36 other institutional systems are integrated with TANCIS ². Commissioner General Yusuph Juma Mwenda said traders would be able to reach several institutions at once through the system without leaving their offices ².

Single window: TeSWS

The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement record says TeSWS is incorporated in TANCIS, which was launched in January 2025. Its design and operating framework are in place, and full interoperability with regulatory authorities is pending ³.

A progress report of 2 June 2023 said phase two was complete and phase three in its final stage ³. The record lists 40 government regulatory authorities as onboarded ³. It gave 877 of 1,268 clearing and forwarding agents registered. The later extension request says all of them are registered ³.

The original definitive date was 30 December 2025. Tanzania asked for an extension on 1 October 2025, and 30 December 2028 was agreed. The African Development Bank is listed as the donor ³.

Payments: GePG

The Ministry of Finance says the Public Finance Act 2001, as amended by the Finance Act 2017, requires all public money to be collected electronically through GePG ⁴. Treasury Circular No. 3 of 4 September 2017 told permanent secretaries to route all government revenue through it ⁴. The page says the government implemented GePG through the Ministry of Finance and Planning. It gives no launch date ⁴.

Transit and cargo tracking

TRA says the Single Customs Territory was launched in October 2013 on the Northern Corridor and later implemented on the Central Corridor ⁷. Goods from outside the EAC bound for Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda are treated as direct imports, not transit, with one declaration processed in the destination country ⁷.

TradeMark Africa lists an Electronic Cargo Tracking System project with TRA from April 2019 to June 2021. It tracks transit goods with unpaid taxes from loading, mainly at Dar es Salaam, to Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the DRC ⁹. The page reports no results ⁹. On 6 March 2023 the Central Corridor agency said an ECTS control room on the 17th floor of TRA House will be used to monitor all cargo under customs control ¹⁰.

Customs agent licences

TRA receives new and renewal applications online through TANCIS on form C.20 ⁸. A non-refundable US$50 application fee applies ⁸. Shortlisted firms sit a written interview. The interviewee must be a director or permanent staff member holding the East African Customs Clearing and Freight Forwarding Practicing Certificate ⁸.

A firm that passes pays a US$400 licence fee. New applicants execute a customs bond of TZS 100,000,000 ⁸. TRA says licences are valid for twelve months from issue and cites an EAC Customs Management Act dated 2023 for that rule ⁸.

One stop border posts

TRA lists eight working one stop border posts. All use the juxtaposed model, where both states share facilities in the country of entry ⁶.

• Holili and Taveta, Sirari and Isebania, Namanga and Namanga, and Horohoro and Lunga Lunga, with Kenya ⁶
• Mutukula and Mutukula, with Uganda ⁶
• Kabanga and Kobero, with Burundi ⁶
• Rusumo and Rusumo, with Rwanda ⁶
• Tunduma and Nakonde, with Zambia ⁶

Audit findings

The Controller and Auditor General's report on information systems for 2024/25, dated 30 March 2026, found that the Tanzania Bureau of Standards system is not integrated with TANCIS to access vessel manifests. It said this may duplicate effort and reduce oversight ⁵. It found the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania system is not integrated with TANCIS, which prevents automated exchange and validation of export data ⁵.

The report found that Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company billing is not integrated with GePG and needs manual work to generate control numbers ⁵. It said the Tanzania Ports Authority has not automated licensing of shipping service providers on vessel arrival, which raises the risk of manipulation and revenue leakage ⁵. The CAG recommended full system-to-system integration through approved government interoperability frameworks ⁵. A management response was not in the part of the report read for this page ⁵.