Individual Corruption

Foreigners are sometimes required to pay random illegal fees (e.g. 'health inspections fees') when entering the country. Also immigration officers accept bribes to issue passports, visas and residence permits to ineligible foreigners.

Business Corruption

Customs administration is considered as prone to corruption by companies as well as individual citizens. According to the World Economic Forum Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, time-consuming bureaucracy related to trade across borders opens the way for public officials to demand bribes in Tanzania. For example, trade is impeded by customs procedures that lack efficiency, and exporting and importing require time-consuming paperwork to clear goods at the border. Corruption and bribery in these processes are not uncommon.

Also the US Department of State 2011 emphasises that customs clearance is marred with corruption. According to the report, foreign companies have identified petty corruption among Tanzanian customs officers as an obstacle to investment in the country.

In addition, Global Integrity 2010 reports that avoidance of import duties, particularly on large and valuable cargoes such as fuel, is widespread. According to the report, large bribes can be insubstantial in comparison to the value of the import duty.

Political Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2010, in practice, customs and excise laws are not enforced uniformly and without discrimination in Tanzania, and some groups, most notably well-connected individuals or companies, consistently avoid paying taxes due to corruption and connections. The regulatory and institutional framework of customs administration thus remains a high risk area for corruption.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- Exporting a container of standardised goods takes 24 days and 5 documents at a cost USD 1,262.

- Importing a container of standardised goods takes 31 days and 7 documents at a cost USD 1,475.

World Economic Forum: The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010:
- Business executives give the efficiency of customs procedures (formalities regulating the entry and exit of merchandise) in Tanzania a score of 3 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

- Business executives give the transparency of border administration (pervasiveness of undocumented extra payments or bribes connected with imports and exports) a score of 3.1 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- 7% of the companies surveyed expect to give gifts in order to get an import licence.