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Import & Export
Complete handling of goods entering and leaving Tanzania — documentation, procedure, permits and cargo readiness, coordinated from the supplier’s invoice to your delivery gate.
What this activity covers
Importing and exporting is a documentation discipline before it is a transport one. Most delays at Dar es Salaam are not caused by the vessel or the truck — they are caused by a commercial invoice that does not match the packing list, a permit nobody applied for, or a consignee whose registration details were never verified.
Our import and export desk exists to remove that category of failure entirely. We review the full document set the moment it is issued, reconcile it against the cargo actually shipped, identify every approval the goods will attract, and confirm that the importer or exporter of record is correctly registered before anything is lodged.
- Pre-arrival document review. Invoice, packing list, bill of lading or airway bill and certificate of origin checked line by line for internal consistency and against the purchase order.
- Import and export procedure management. Selection of the correct customs procedure code — home use, temporary import, re-export, warehousing or transit — because the procedure decides the duty treatment.
- Permit and licence coordination. Identification and pursuit of sector approvals: standards conformity, health and pharmaceutical, agricultural, mining, communications and others, depending on the goods.
- Commercial documentation checks. Verification that the declared value, incoterm, currency and freight and insurance components are stated in a form customs will accept.
- Cargo readiness support. Liaison with the shipping line or airline on arrival notice, manifest amendment, container release and free-time expiry.
Exports
Export consignments fail for different reasons than imports: an origin certificate that the buyer’s bank will not accept, a mineral or agricultural permit obtained too late, or a shipping instruction that misses the vessel’s documentation cut-off. We work backwards from the cut-off, not forwards from the booking.
Documentation
Export entries and certificates
Export declaration lodgement, certificate of origin applications, and the commercial document set your buyer’s letter of credit or bank will require, prepared to match exactly.
Regulated exports
Permits and sector clearance
Coordination of the approvals that regulated exports attract — agricultural, mineral, wildlife-related and other controlled categories — obtained before the container is stuffed, not after.
Logistics
Booking and cut-off management
Shipping line booking, container release for stuffing, haulage to the terminal, and delivery of documents ahead of the documentation cut-off so the bill of lading issues cleanly.
The document set we work from
Send these at the point of shipment. Anything missing, we will tell you within one working day of receipt — while the cargo is still at sea and the fix is free.
Bill of lading / airway bill
The transport document evidencing carriage and identifying the consignee.
Commercial invoice
The basis of customs value. Must match the purchase, the packing list and the goods.
Packing list
Quantities, weights, marks and numbers for physical verification.
Certificate of origin
Determines preferential rates and origin-based measures where applicable.
Permits and licences
Sector approvals for regulated goods, obtained before release is sought.
Agency appointment
Authorises Bridgelight to declare and act on your behalf before TRA and TASAC.
TIN and registration
Identifies the importer or exporter of record and their tax standing.
Proforma / purchase order
Useful for pre-shipment classification and landed-cost advice before you commit.
Questions importers ask us
How early should I send my documents?
As soon as the supplier issues them — ideally at shipment. We review within one working day and raise queries while there is still time to correct them at no cost. Documents that arrive after the vessel has berthed leave no room to fix anything without paying storage.
Can you tell me my duty before I place the order?
Yes. Send the proforma invoice and a technical description or datasheet for the goods. We will assign the likely HS classification, compute duty, VAT and applicable levies, and give you a landed cost estimate you can budget against.
What if my goods need a permit I did not know about?
That is exactly what the regulatory check at stage three is for. We map the goods against sector requirements — standards, health, agriculture and others — and start the application immediately. Finding out at the release counter is what costs money.
Do you handle personal effects and one-off shipments?
Yes. The process is the same and the same care applies, though the document set is usually simpler. Contact the desk with what you are importing and we will tell you what will be required.
Have a shipment on the water?
Send the documents now and we will confirm classification, duty exposure and a clearance timeline before it berths.