Tanzania lifts ban on agriculture imports from South Africa, Malawi
By Reuters, April 27, 2025Tanzania has lifted a ban on imports of agricultural produce from Malawi and South Africa, it said late on Friday, days after imposing it in retaliation for similar measures imposed by the two southern African nations.
Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA)’s director general, Joseph Ndunguru, said that Tanzania was lifting the ban effective immediately to allow for “a diplomatic ministerial discussion.”
The two countries had reached out separately seeking to resolve the trade dispute through dialogue, he said.
On Wednesday, Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture banned imports of all agricultural produce from Malawi and South Africa and also banned exports to Malawi of Tanzanian fertiliser, which Malawi relies on. The ban on fertiliser exports to Malawi has now also been lifted.
Tanzania had demanded that both countries rescind bans on imports of agricultural goods from Tanzania by Wednesday, but they had not done so, Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said in a video posted on his X account late on Wednesday.
“I would like to officially announce that from this night … we won’t allow any agricultural products from South Africa in our country,” Bashe said, adding a similar ban was being imposed on Malawi.
He said that talks to resolve the trade impasse would continue with both countries.
He said Tanzania will start prohibiting the transit of agricultural goods from other countries through its territory to land-locked Malawi, and will also ban the export of Tanzanian fertiliser to Malawi
The three countries all belong to a regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, welcomed Tanzania’s move to lift the ban, saying it underscored the strong relations between both nations.
“This outcome demonstrates that the diplomatic route remains the most effective path to resolving challenges… cooperation and mutual understanding can unlock shared opportunities,” he said in a statement.
.Malawi had recently banned imports of Tanzanian agricultural commodities like maize flour, rice, ginger, and bananas, among other products, while South Africa has also stopped imports of bananas shipped by Tanzania.
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