Tanzania lifts ban on imports from South Africa, Malawi for talks

Tanzanian officials say the two countries had reached out separately seeking to resolve the trade dispute through dialogue. Tanzania has lifted a ban on imports of agricultural produce from Malawi and South Africa, it said late on Friday, days after imposing it in retaliation for similar measures imposed by the two southern African nations. Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA)'s director general, Joseph Ndunguru, said that Tanzania was lifting the ban effective immediately to allow for "a diplomatic ministerial discussion." The two countries had reached out separately seeking to resolve the trade dispute through dialogue , he said. On Wednesday Tanzania's ministry of agriculture banned imports of all agricultural produce from Malawi and South Africa and also proscribed export of Tanzanian fertilizer to Malawi. The ban on fertilizer exports to Malawi has now also been lifted. SADC members The three countries all belong to a regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Malawi had recently banned imports of Tanzanian agricultural commodities like maize flour, rice, ginger, and bananas, among other products, while South Africa has also stopped imports of bananas shipped by Tanzania.