BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA
Investigations are still ongoing on the recently impounded football jerseys at the Dar es Salaam port.
Until this week,neither the importer nor the country where the consignment originated had been established.
Fair Competition Commission director general William Eriyo confirmed in Arusha this week that the issue was still under investigation by various state agencies.
The consignment, he said, has just been moved to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) godowns at Ubungo in Dar es Salaam.
A total of 776,074 football jerseys purportedly belonging to Taifa Stars, a sports promoter GSM, Young Africans,Simba and Azam clubs were seized at the Dar es Salaam port.
Other sportswear impounded had logos of prominent soccer clubs in Europe such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and PSG.
Mystery surrounded on who was the importer,the manufacturer and where the consignment originated. They had been declared fake goods.
"We (FCC) issued a seizure notice that they should not be sold", he told journalists at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC).
According to him, the jerseys were impounded at a container terminal at Chang'ombe and later moved to TRA's godowns at Ubungo.
On Thursday last week the minister for Industries and Trade Ashatu Kijaji gav an ultimatum of seven days for the owner of the consignment to be found and taken to task.
The consignment if proved to have been imported without following the laid down procedures, including import duty clearance, will thereafter be destroyed as per law.
"Today ( November 1st, 2023) is the seventh day. The directive has not been implemented because the matter is still under investigation by the TRA", he said.
The FCC boss said the TRA officials were evaluating the impounded goods and that the process was still going on.
Pressed further on where might have been the origin of seized sports gear, he simply hinted that they bore "fake Chinese stamps".
Fair Competition Commission of Tanzania (FCC) is a public institution established by virtue of section 62 (1) of the Fair Competition Act, No. 8 of 2003.
Its aim is to promote and protect effective competition in trade and commerce and protect consumers from unfair and misleading market conduct.
The ultimate goal is to increase efficiency in the production, distribution and supply of goods and services.
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