YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS: The mitumba imports merry-go-round...

The government officially banned imports of used underwear in 2003, ostensibly to avert spreading skin infections in Tanzania. [See ‘Used pants ban in Tanzania;’ BBC News: last updated October 23, 2003].

The ban was decried not only by importers and traders in items that included underpants, underskirts, vests, brassieres, socks...

It was also decried by hapless Tanzanians who could hardly afford new underwear, much of which was also imported for lack of domestic textiles manufacturing worth the name.

Besides, new imports – mostly from far eastern countries – were inordinately expensive, although they were of shamelessly low quality, compared to secondhand imports from western countries, including the United States.

In any case, secondhand wear of all types are by law subjected to rigorous fumigation in the exporting countries to kill off any and all infections at source.

They are also subject to equally rigorous fumigation at the ports of entry in Tanzania – thus making assurance double sure that they are as infection-free as is humanly possible.

However, for more than a decade now, the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and related institutions, including the police, have haphazardly been raiding local markets and carting away loads of used underwear in efforts to enforce the ban. It is all really an exercise in futility.

Ordinary Tanzanians are dying from hunger, non-communicable diseases, lifestyle diseases (many from substandard food imports), road traffic accidents, etc. – and NOT from using imported secondhand underwear, I say!

Oh, how I sincerely wish that the government and its institutions – including TBS, the police and market masters – would redirect their focus from their obsession with secondhand underwear imports and concentrate on imports of substandard foods, medicines, cosmetics, etc., for better socio-economic prospects.

This is to say nothing of substandard electric and electronic appliances, cables, accessories and spare parts, as well as car parts, tyres, lubricants, etc...

Anyway, the ban on secondhand clothes – and on underwear in particular – has been a bemusing merry-go-round denoting a continuous cycle of activities and events that are arguably pointless.

This is especially taken in the context of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) enacted by the US Congress on May 8, 2000, and whose validity was renewed to year-2025.

Agoa significantly enhances access to the US market for qualifying sub-Saharan African (s-SA) least developed countries (LDCs), including Tanzania.

However, the US has been threatening the EAC countries against banning imports of secondhand clothes, considerable quantities of which come from that self-styled ‘Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.’

Indeed, the East African countries have backed down from their initial stand on banning secondhand clothing imports.

Instead, they say, they will use tax measures and incentives to spur local manufacturing. [See ‘US threats force EAC to back down on secondhand clothes ban;’ TheEastAfrican: Feb. 24, 2018].

Really...? Oh, I don’t know...

But Kenya imported 52,648 tonnes of secondhand clothes valued at Sh5 billion between July and September 2018 – almost double its imports –after the Treasury reduced import duty thereon! [See ‘Mitumba imports hit Sh5 billion in three months after Treasury reduced tariffs by half;’ The Standard: Jan. 4, 2019].

See what I mean by ‘the mitumba imports merry-go-round...?’ Cheers!