Was the edible oil crude or not crude? This is what Magufuli found out in his impromptu port visit

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli has directed the minister for Industry, Trade and Investment and his Finance counterpart to table a schedule of amendment in the ongoing parliamentary sessions to impose higher taxes on imported refined edible oil. The President issued the directive, during his impromptu visit to the Dar es Salaam Port on Tuesday.

President Magufuli said the move would prevent unscrupulous traders from dodging taxes.

He issued the directive after a committee, which was formed to probe a tax dispute between the Tanzania Revenues Authority (TRA) and owners of the oil, revealed that seven out of 43 tankers at the port contained refined and semi-refined oil.

The committee took samples from all the 43 tanks and found that the owners submitted misleading documents for the seven tanks. The tanks have a capacity of storing 105,630 tonnes. The audible oil stored in the 43 tanks belong to three companies-Vegetable Oil Terminal (VOT), Tanzania Liquid Storage (TLS) and East Coast Oils and Fats Limited (EC), according to the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and investments, Prof Joseph Buchweishaija, who read the report.

Following the revelations, the President directed owners of the refined oil to start clearing their cargo immediately by paying 10 per cent as import duty. He also directed the owners of refined oil to pay 25 per cent as import duty. “We must admit that we made some mistakes in the past; you can’t impose the same amount of tax on imported crude oil and semi-refined oil…you (minister of Trade) should table an amendment in the ongoing parliamentary sessions,” said the President.

However, President Magufuli said the team established that the oil was safe for human consumption. “I formed the team, not only to establish whether the owners of the commodity tried to dodge tax, but also to find out whether the commodity was safe for human consumption.”