By Abela Msikula
Posted Tuesday, October 15 2013 at 00:00
Posted Tuesday, October 15 2013 at 00:00
In Summary
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is unlikely to lift the
ban on export of raw tanzanite despite mounting pressure from the Indian
government, a senior government official has said.
The acting commissioner for Minerals, Eng Ally
Samaje, has told The Citizen that lifting the ban would be
counterproductive to plans by the government to increase value addition
on its minerals within the country to enable a boost in the benefits it
gains from its resources.
“As a ministry and country, we believe value
addition would only be attained by encouraging local cutting and
polishing of tanzanite,” he said in an interview recently.
Globally, tanzanite trade accounts $500 million a
year, with Tanzania, which is the only country that mines the precious
stone recording export revenues of $100 million because of failure to
polish the mineral locally. The government however, hopes to boost
earnings from tanzanite to $250 million this year, thanks to several
measures, including a ban on export of raw tanzanite weighing over one
gram and the introduction of a Certificate of Origin.
Mr Samaje noted that the government had held successful talks with neighbouring Kenya to help tighten the noose even more.
“Over the years, Kenya did not levy any royalty on
gemstone exports and dealers from Tanzania took the advantage to
smuggle tanzanite there. Now they have agreed to start charging a five
per cent royalty under a new mining law to be enacted soon,” he said.
Tanzania currently charges a five per cent royalty
on the gross value of tanzanite and has since 2010 banned export of the
rare gemstone weighing 1gm and above of uncut and polished stone. The
move was meant to spur local processing, raise government tax and create
jobs for thousands of jobless youth.
In 2011, the country also introduced a demand that
all tanzanite dealers must obtain a certificate of origin when selling
the mineral around the world.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
