Govt: We’re probing

The government will launch a special probe to clear contradictory reports regarding sugar supply in the country, Minister for Food Security and Cooperatives Chrispher Chiza told journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

However, the minister said there is real possibility of bad elements creating artificial ‘sugar floods’ and sugar scarcity.

The minister queried: “Why does the problem of ‘sugar floods’ only occur at Mtibwa, Kilombero and Kagera factories, and not TPC?”

The minister said that sometimes problems arise because of conflicts between sugar cane farmers and sugar producers, and not the market.

“Some local producers own sugar industries outside the country and they could well be the ones importing the commodity. What’s worse is that they too complain about the prevailing situation,” he said.

“How is it possible to have sugar in excess in some regions while in others like Mbeya there is serious scarcity?

“Why aren’t producers distributing sugar to areas of scarcity? This is why we want to investigate into the issue and get truth,” he continued.

Chiza dismissed claims that the government had issued sugar importation licenses, a factor alleged to be behind the shortage of the commodity, elaborating that the government never issued any such licenses since 2013/14.

The minister stressed that the government would not issue any licenses for the year 2014/15 because there is enough sugar in the country
He said sugar importation arrangement is a collaborative one, involving several government organs as well as the East African Community (EAC), whose findings are evaluated by the Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT) to determine the amount of sugar needed in the county.

The minister admitted the existence of sugar smuggling which can be controlled by collaborative efforts, and not just that of the ministry.

Chiza reveled that the government would adopt the tactics it uses in the ongoing fight against drug trafficking in controlling smuggling of sugar.

Meanwhile, he challenged other key players in the sector regarding the abundant supply of industrial sugar in local super markets being sold for human consumption.

 He urged the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) and Tanzania Bureau of standard (TBS) to do their job effectively and educate the public about its chemical composition of industrial sugar as well as its impact on health. “The sugar imported for industrial use and later sold for human consumption has big effect on the sugar market in the country.

 “The government is also planning to introduce bulk importation of sugar, but a challenge emerged when local sugar producers and importers failed to agree who would be the importer,” minister explained. He added that the government has told importers and local sugar producers to sort out the matter and decide who will be the importers to eliminate the existing problems.

However, he said the government would review the sugar importing arrangement and amendment some of the criteria in issuing the import license permits.

“We will not allow traders to create artificial sugar shortage and then make then import and sell it at high price,” he added.

Also, Chiza said the government would review the tax remission for importing industrial sugar, thereby discouraging importers to sell it for human consumption.

The minister said the country has a capacity of producing 300,000 tonnes of sugar annually but the demand is 590,000 tonnes.