Tanzania doubled the cost of export permits by 93 percent, a move that is likely to open another round of trade dispute between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
The cost of getting export permits from the previous Sh 27,000 per truck to Sh 52,000 has been increased, according to border officials.
The move caused a huge snarl-up of trucks moving to Kenya in the last week, as traders and truckers were caught off guard by the new requirement.
An officer of the Kenya Revenue Authority KRA said he was not authorised to talk to the media and Tanzania has increased the charges it levies on export permit to Sh 52,000 per truck, creating confusion at the border but activities are slowly coming back to normal.
Hundreds of trucks were left stranded at the border last week as truck owners updated their export permits to meet the new requirements. Officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards Kebs told the Business Daily that they resumed the clearing of trucks last week.
There are some moving trucks from Tanzania to Kenya. The normal flow of trucks is slowly gaining momentum, according to a Kebs official.
The new directive is expected to hit millers who are banking on Tanzania for imports of maize to meet the current shortage in the country. It is likely that it will spark another round of trade war between Kenya and Tanzania over a year after the two countries have resolved their differences that have negatively impacted cross-border trade.
Since the year 2019 the flow of goods across common borders has slowed due to the long-standing trade disputes.
In 2020, Tanzania had imposed a 25 per cent import duty on Kenyan confectionery, including juice, ice cream, chocolate, sweets and chewing gums, claiming that Kenya had zero-rated industrial sugar imports to produce them.
Kenya had banned Tanzanian tour vans from accessing the Maasai Mara National Reserve, arguing that Tanzania had banned Kenyan operators from accessing Serengeti National Park.
In February of last year, Tanzania imposed new quality verification standards for Kenyan products, which escalated the trade spat.
The differences were resolved when the new Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu visited Nairobi last year for a bilateral meeting with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.