Mystery of sugar abandoned at Dar port

Dar es Salaam. The government is to auction hundreds of tonnes of sugar abandoned at Dar es Salaam Port. The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) will auction the sugar carried in 44 containers in the first week of October if its owners will not show up and claim the cargo within 30 days.

The sugar is among items which have overstayed at the port without being claimed, and whose list was published by TRA on Wednesday.

However, unlike other items on the list, TRA neither named the companies that imported the sugar nor the consignees. Also, the tax agency did not reveal the quantity of the sugar.

However, sources familiar with the matter told The Citizen that the quantity of the abandoned sugar could be as much as 1,000 tonnes with an estimated value of between Sh2 billion and Sh3 billion.

“Sugar is usually imported in 50-kilogramme bags in 20-foot containers that carry between 20 and 23 tonnes each. The 44 containers should therefore have about 1,000 tonnes of sugar,” one of the sources said.

With a kilogramme of sugar currently retailing for Sh2,500, the amount could fetch some Sh2.5 billion.

Other sources said the sugar belongs to a prominent Dar es Salaam-based businessman with interests in manufacturing.

They added that the sugar had been lying at the port for several months because of a tax dispute.

The consignment was withheld in the wake of President John Magufuli’s ban on importation of sugar and crackdown on tax fraud.

The ban has since been relaxed and importers are allowed to bring the commodity into the country under the watchful eye of TRA and other relevant authorities.

Sources told The Citizen that TRA had withheld the consignment amid a dispute on import declaration. The taxman maintains that the commodity, which has been declared industrial sugar, is, in fact, for domestic use. Industrial sugar attracts less import duty than table sugar.

Local sugar manufacturers have in recent years been complaining that uncontrolled sugar imports and tax evasion have adversely affected their production and expansion plans. The manufacturers supported President Magufuli’s restriction on imports, saying it would level the playing field.

On Wednesday, the TRA Commissioner for Customs and Tariffs, Mr Mr Jocktan Kyamuhanga, said in the notice published in newspapers that the sugar and other items would be auctioned between October 3 and 10.

The sugar would be sold as deemed fit by the government if its owners would now show up and clear it from the port.

Contacted for comment, TRA Director of Taxpayer Services and Education Richard Kayombo said the authority could not disclose the quantity of the sugar or its owners.

He added that TRA hoped that the notice would encourage the owners to come forward and pay rightful tax owed to the government.

“We can’t disclose the amount of the sugar or names of the owners as our aim is to encourage them to come forward and pay the tax they owe us,” Mr Kayombo said.

Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association vice president Edward Urio said the law allows the TRA Commissioner General to auction goods that have overstayed at the port for more than 21 days.

He added, however, that TRA’s overriding responsibility was to collect revenue on the government’s behalf and the authority only auctioned goods as a last resort.

“Normally, TRA will shelve auction if the owner of a consignment turns up even a day before the announced sale.”

Mr Urio said the consignment could have been abandoned by unscrupulous traders who in the past imported sugar and lied that it was in transit in order to avoid paying tax.

He said it was currently not easy to dump transit cargo and the large volume of the sugar meant that storage charges had accumulated in addition to the tax bill.

“I won’t be surprised if the owners opt to buy the same consignment through the auction.”