Tanzania has lifted its ban on agricultural imports from South Africa and Malawi, following a trade dispute that saw the measures imposed earlier this week. The Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) announced on Friday that the ban, which was introduced in retaliation for similar actions by both countries, would be lifted immediately to allow for “diplomatic ministerial discussion.”
Joseph Ndunguru, the TPHPA’s director general, stated that both Malawi and South Africa had approached Tanzania separately, expressing their desire to resolve the dispute through dialogue.
Earlier this week, Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture had imposed a ban on agricultural imports from both nations and also halted the export of Tanzanian fertilizer to Malawi. However, the ban on fertilizer exports has now also been lifted.
The three countries are part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional economic bloc. Malawi had previously banned imports of Tanzanian agricultural products, including maize flour, rice, ginger, and bananas. South Africa, in turn, had stopped accepting Tanzanian bananas.