Tanzania

Tanzania regulates cosmetics through the Tanzanian food and Drug Authority that administers licences; permits and clerance requirements via the Tanzanian Trade Portal that is empowered through the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The Act provides for restrictions; prohibitions of ingredients; supply; manufacture; counterfeit cosmetics; powers to prohibit; storage; exhibition; possession; import, distribution; and penalties.

Cosmetics are defined as: “any article intended to be used by means of rubbing, pouring, steaming, sprinkling, spraying on or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering the appearance and includes any article intended for use as component of a cosmetic; such articles exclude articles intended besides the above purposes for use in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of diseases and those intended to affect the structure or any function of the body and decorative cosmetics means “a cosmetic intended to modify the appearance of the area to which they are applied by the use of colour.”.

Tanzania is a member of EAC and its Customs Union; SADC; and has an agreement in place with the European Union through the EAC EU Economic Partnership Agreement. Following its accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1961, Kenya became a member of the World Trade Organization in 1995.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement as well as agreements with the United States of America’s (notably the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement) apply. Tanzania also has bilateral and unilateral trade agreements with other countries.

Furthermore, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) applies that gives the country preferential treatment in terms of exports to certain countries. The GSP’s overall framework and rules are administered by the WTO, with individual countries manageing their own preferences. Countries could include: Armenia; Australia; Belarus; Canada; the European Union; Iceland; Japan; Kazakhstan; New Zealand; Norway; the Russian Federation; Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom; and the United States of America.