Tanzania has witnessed a recent influx of fake products, prompting an outcry there. Incidences ranging from counterfeit drug exposures to substandard bus tyres bursting at high-speed, have raised public awareness of the dangers of counterfeit goods. Powerful drug barons in Tanzania are abandoning drug trafficking, which has been curbed by stringent laws, in favour of importing fake goods simply because the risks of being caught are far lower.

Fake goods mainly come in the form of low-grade imports from parts of Asia and the Far East, but they are also being produced on a national level. In 2007, a local man was charged with selling fake Coca Cola and Fanta otherwise licensed to ‘Bonite Bottlers’. The accused was apparently producing the beverages at home, refilling Bonite bottles and selling them off by the crate load.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of organization and action on the behalf of the relevant authorities, the climate is ripe in Tanzania for a thriving counterfeit trade. Although there are plenty of official controllers, as well as customs controllers and port health officers at most of the entry points into the country, there continues to be a massive flow of counterfeit goods, including pharmaceuticals and foodstuff, into Tanzania.

The Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has a mandate to “undertake measures for quality control of products of all descriptions and promote standardization in industry and commerce” and, as such, also holds primary responsibility for reducing the trade in counterfeit goods. There is also a legal framework designed to deal with the counterfeit dealers. The “Merchandise Marks Act” deems it a criminal offence to deal in any type of counterfeit item and also criminalizes the importation into Tanzania of counterfeit goods. The legal and organisational infrastructure is there but flabby tactics and implementation of laws are allowing the population to be repeatedly exposed to dangerous and shoddy goods.

Hope may come in the form of the above-mentioned East Africa Community anti-counterfeiting strategies and the Memorandum of Understanding between the EAC and the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF), of which Tanzania is also a part.

Shopping in Dar es Salaam
Souvenir sellers dominate the tourist shopping scene. Handmade items may be purchased at market stalls, roadside stands, and from street peddlers. Be prepared for a strong sales pitch, offering bargain prices on handicrafts. When buying woodcarvings, watch out for fakes made from lighter woods and shoe polish, which can be identified by the lighter weight and scratches showing the true colour of the wood.

The unit of currency is the Tanzania Shilling (TShs), which is divided into 100 cents. It comes in notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 denominations. Visitors can bring with them any amount of foreign currency but it is against the law to import or export Tanzania currency.

Click here for a link to information and images on Tanzanian currency.