Tanzania Dairy Board Registration: Who Registers, the Fees, TBS Milk Standards, Import Permits and Penalties

This guide explains Tanzania Dairy Board registration on the Mainland: the law, fees, TBS standards, imports, penalties, Zanzibar and a costed Arusha plant.

What the law says

Dairy Board registration is a sector registration, not a business licence, a food safety approval or a veterinary permit. The dairy file rests on five instruments.

• The Act. The Dairy Industry Act, 2004 (Act No. 8 of 2004) was passed on 16 April 2004 and assented on 4 June 2004. The text on FAOLEX repeals the Dairy Industry Act, 1965. The Board cites it as Cap. 262.
• The duty to register. Section 17(1) says any person who deals with milk or milk products shall register with the Board. Section 20 makes a registration valid for one year, renewable on payment of the prescribed fee. Section 21 makes certificates non-transferable.
• The 2020 amendments. The Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2020 (Act No. 1 of 2020), Part IV, rewrote the list in section 17(2). It now names production, processing, input supply, collection, wholesale, distribution, retail, trade and dairy projects. It also added compounding (new s.25A) and inspectors appointed through councils (new s.33B).
• The registration regulations. The Dairy Industry (Registration of Dairy Industry Stakeholders) Regulations, 2007, GN No. 208 of 2007, set the application, conditions and certificate. The amendment of 2020, GN No. 540 of 2020, signed on 12 July 2020, replaced the fee schedule and added a penalty schedule.
• The trade regulations. The Dairy Industry (Import and Export of Milk and Milk Products) Regulations, 2011 require a Board permit for every consignment. We read the copy held on the tripartite non-tariff barriers site, which does not show the GN number.

The Act creates the Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB), based in Dodoma, with a Registrar as chief executive. It sets no levy or cess. The Board is funded from fees and a share of fees on milk imports (s.28).

Who should read this

• Dairy farmers selling more than 10 litres of milk a day;
• Milk collection and chilling centres, including cooperatives;
• Processors of pasteurised milk, UHT milk, yoghurt, cultured milk, ghee or cheese;
• Milk traders, vendors and milk bars, supermarkets and shops;
• Distributors, transporters and warehouses of milk products;
• Importers and exporters of milk powder, UHT milk and other dairy products;
• Investors sizing a dairy plant, who should read our guide to livestock value-chain investment first.

Section 2(2) excludes milk not intended for sale and milk kept for the producer's household, employees or animals.

Who must register with the Tanzania Dairy Board?

The Board's stakeholder registration page lists eight categories. The Second Schedule of GN No. 540 of 2020 sets the conditions each must meet before a certificate issues.

Since 1 July 2019 the "food regulatory body" on the Mainland is the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), not TMDA. The Act still names the old food and drugs authority in s.10(r) and (s); read those references as TBS.

The 2020 amendment also redefined "milk" as cow's milk, including designated milk. Goat and camel milk are therefore outside the definition unless designated. Confirm the position with the Board before relying on it.

How much are Dairy Board registration fees?

The Zatra government fees register (26 September 2026) has no Dairy Board line. The figures below are read from the Fourth Schedule of GN No. 540 of 2020, which replaced the 2007 schedule.

A nil fee is not an exemption from registering. Traders, importers and small farmers still need a certificate. Training and research institutions and state-owned dairies are exempt from the fee (reg. 9, as substituted in 2020).

The schedule has no fee line for transporters, and a processor of exactly 51,000 litres a day falls between bands. Ask the Board for a written assessment.

How long is a Dairy Board certificate valid?

The texts do not line up, so plan for the strictest reading.

• The Act. Section 20 says a registration is valid for one year and renewable on payment of the prescribed fee.
• Regulation 10. A certificate is valid for five years, provided the annual retention fee is paid. In 2020 the retention fee moved from 10% of the registration fee to the amounts in the Fourth Schedule.
• Regulation 5. The regulations copy on the Tanzania Trade Portal states that certificates expire on 30 June each year. We could not confirm that wording in the scanned Gazette.

In practice, pay the retention fee every year before 30 June, and ask the Board in writing which term applies.

How do you apply on MIMIS?

The Board takes registrations through the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries information system, MIMIS. Its page says any person should register before operating a dairy. The paper form is also available at Board offices.

1. open a MIMIS account and choose the category;
2. enter owners, products, milk source, location and daily capacity;
3. attach the TIN, ID, company certificate and the TBS licence where the category needs one;
4. pass the Board's inspection of the premises;
5. pay the application and registration fees against the control number;
6. print the certificate.

The Board may register, ask for more information, or refuse with reasons (reg. 7). Before cancelling, it gives the holder 30 days to show cause (reg. 13). The Board publishes no processing time.

Which TBS approvals does a dairy need?

The Board registers the business. TBS decides whether the product and the premises are fit for sale. The Finance Act, 2019 (Act No. 8 of 2019) moved food from the old food and drugs law into the Standards Act, Cap. 130, from 1 July 2019.

The working rules are in the Standards (Registration of Premises and Certification of Products) Regulations, 2021, GN No. 683 of 2021. Pre-packaged food may not be sold unless TBS has registered and certified it. Applications go through the TBS i-SQMT portal, as the TBS product certification page explains.

Most dairy products sit under compulsory standards. The TBS list of compulsory standards as of October 2025 includes these lines.

TBS does not publish its certification and premises fees; the register records them as assessed on filing (F0365). See our guides to TBS certification and food business licensing. Milk cans and dip measures used in trade need weights and measures verification.

Is there a dairy levy or milk cess?

Not under the dairy law. The Act provides no levy or cess, and GN No. 540 of 2020 charges only registration and retention fees. Nothing in either is charged per litre.

Councils are a separate question. Section 7(1)(g) of the Local Government Finance Act, Cap. 290 lets a district council collect cess payable at source on "agricultural or other produce". Some council by-laws charge it on milk. Section 17(7) says corporate entities paying the service levy are not liable to produce cess.

A company processor therefore pays the service levy of 0.25% of turnover net of VAT and excise (F0283) instead. An individual buyer may still meet a council cess. Our guides to produce cess and the service levy explain both.

What do you need to import or export milk products?

Four layers apply to a consignment.

• Board registration. Importers and exporters register under s.17. The import and export regulations add a business licence, a TIN and an approved warehouse (reg. 4).
• A Board permit for each consignment. The import application fee is TZS 10,000 in reg. 8(1) but TZS 30,000 on the printed form. The import permit costs 1.0% of the FOB value (reg. 8(2)). An export application costs TZS 30,000 and the export permit TZS 20,000. Approvals are valid for one consignment and three months.
• Veterinary papers. The Director of Veterinary Services issues an animal health import or export certificate first (reg. 9). Only processed milk products may be imported, apart from research samples.
• Customs. Duty, VAT, the Railway Development Levy of 2% (F0309) and the Customs Processing Fee of 0.6% of FOB (F0311) are paid through TRA. Imports also pass TBS conformity checks; see PVoC and TBS import conformity.

Import duty is high. The EAC Common External Tariff, 2022 marks milk and cream (headings 04.01 and 04.02), yoghurt and cheese as sensitive items, with rates set in its Schedule 2. Butter (04.05) carries 35% and whey (04.04) 25%. We could not open Schedule 2, so confirm the milk rate on the TRA tariff. Our guide to import duty, VAT and excise explains the arithmetic.

A separate veterinary charge per kilogram also applies. The Citizen reported in October 2018 that the milk import fee rose from Sh150 to Sh2,000 per kilogramme. Dairy Business Middle East and Africa repeated the figure on 4 August 2026. The fee register has no line for it, so confirm the current amount with the Ministry.

Two Finance Act 2026 measures help processors rather than importers. Section 96(a)(iii) of the Finance Act, 2026 substituted the VAT exemption line for dairy packaging materials, listing five HS codes. EY's analysis of 17 July 2026 reports the same change. Separately, the EAC remission for 2026/27 sets 0% duty on packaging for yoghurt, UHT and powdered milk imported by approved manufacturers (NEW-03-11).

Which other licences does a dairy business need?

A Board certificate does not replace the business licence under the Business Licensing Act, Cap. 101 R.E. 2023. Dairy farming itself is outside that Act, together with farming and livestock keeping (NEW-08-16). Processing, collection for trade and retail are inside it.

Ownership matters. GN No. 487A of 2025 reserves micro and small industries and retail sale of goods to citizens (NEW-08-14, items 1 and 15). A foreign investor can own a medium or large plant, not a small one. Licences run 12 months and each renewal needs a TRA tax clearance (NEW-08-02).

Every dairy business needs a TIN, and most issue EFD receipts; see who needs an EFD machine. Farmers moving cattle need veterinary movement permits at TZS 2,500 a head (F0776), as our livestock export permit guide explains.

What happens if you operate without registration?

Section 25A lets the Registrar compound an offence that the person admits in writing before court proceedings. The sum may not exceed half the fine. Under reg. 16A it is paid within 14 days on the Sixth Schedule form, and late payment adds 20%.

Signing a compounding form is an admission of an offence. If milk is seized, or a plant is ordered to stop, speak to an advocate before you sign anything.

How does Zanzibar differ from the Mainland?

The Dairy Industry Act is a Mainland law: its definitions refer to Mainland Tanzania, and livestock is not a Union matter. A TDB certificate has no effect in Unguja or Pemba.

The tripartite non-tariff measures register records that the Zanzibar Milk Regulations, 2011 ban the sale of milk that has not been pasteurised. Our guide to ZFDA in Zanzibar explains the islands' food register. The Zanzibar route and fees for a milk processor are unconfirmed; ask ZFDA and the Zanzibar livestock ministry first.

Worked example: a 10,000-litre-a-day processor in Arusha

This example is hypothetical. A Tanzanian company in Arusha City processes 10,000 litres of cow's milk a day into pasteurised milk and yoghurt. It also runs one collection centre that receives 2,500 litres a day. It has a fixed investment of TZS 1.2 billion and 60 employees. It already holds its BRELA certificate and TIN.

The turnover assumes 330 working days and an average ex-factory value of TZS 1,800 a litre. That gives 3.3 million litres and TZS 5.94 billion a year. The Board's lines come to TZS 460,000 in the first year, or 17.8% of the fixed charges. Over five years the Board costs TZS 740,000 if the retention fee starts in year 2.

No per-litre dairy levy applies, and s.17(7) of Cap. 290 keeps the company out of produce cess. Payroll charges, TBS testing and council health fees are outside the table.

All of these charges are paid by the client to each authority at the official rate against its control number. They are separate from Zatra's professional fee, which is quoted in writing after scoping and never mixed into the table above.

What to do now

1. Classify each activity. List production, collection, processing, storage, transport, trade, import and export, and match each to its Board category and litre band.
2. Check ownership. Confirm the plant is medium or large before a foreign shareholder signs, because small industries are reserved to citizens.
3. Clear the site. Get the council's zoning and health requirements, the NEMC route and the OSHA drawings approval before you build.
4. Register premises and products with TBS. Buy the current compulsory standard for each product and apply on i-SQMT.
5. Apply to the Dairy Board on MIMIS. File each category separately with the TBS licence, TIN and company documents, and book the inspection.
6. Take the business licence. Apply on TNBP for Class A or TAUSI for Class B, at the subsidiary rate for each extra site.
7. Set the renewal calendar. Diarise 30 June for the Board retention fee and the licence, NEMC and OSHA anniversaries.
8. Plan each import. Obtain the veterinary certificate and the Board permit before the goods ship.
9. Call an advocate on seizure. Do not sign a compounding form or a statement without advice.

Key dates

How Zatra helps

Zatra's sector permits service maps each dairy activity to its Board category, prepares the MIMIS files and sequences the TBS, NEMC and council steps. Our business licensing service files the Class A or Class B licence and keeps the renewal calendar. For importers and exporters, the import and export compliance team builds the consignment file. Our sister guide on Meat Board registration covers the parallel regime for meat.

Government charges are paid by the client to each authority at the official rate against its control number. They are separate from Zatra's professional fee; our note on professional fees and government fees explains the split.

The Dairy Board, TBS, the veterinary service, NEMC, OSHA, BRELA, the councils and the Zanzibar authorities decide every registration, inspection and permit. Zatra prepares and coordinates the file; it does not decide or guarantee any authority's outcome. Prosecutions, seizures, compounding, disputes with an authority or a buyer, and formal legal opinions go to Zatra's advocate.

Sources and status

Accurate as at 26 October 2026. Settled: the Act and its Mainland reach, the s.17 duty to register, the 2020 amendments, the GN No. 540 of 2020 fee and penalty schedules, the 2019 transfer of food to TBS, and the business licence lines. Verify: certificate validity, the import application fee, the per-kilogram import fee, the CET milk rate and council cess by-laws. Unknown: the transporter fee, the issuer of the milk container permit, and the Zanzibar route for processors.

• Dairy Industry Act, 2004: FAOLEX copy of Act No. 8 of 2004, assented 4 Jun 2004. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• GN No. 208 of 2007 and GN No. 540 of 2020: TanzLII, 2007 and 2020. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Dairy stakeholders registration: Tanzania Dairy Board, read 26 Oct 2026.
• Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2020: FB Attorneys copy of Act No. 1 of 2020, assented 14 Feb 2020. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• List of compulsory standards: TBS, October 2025. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Finance Act, 2026: TRA copy, in force 1 Jul 2026. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Import and export regulations, 2011; Zanzibar Milk Regulations entry; EAC CET 2022; Cap. 290; Finance Act 2019; GN No. 683 of 2021; EY, 17 Jul 2026; The Citizen, Oct 2018; Dairy Business MEA, 4 Aug 2026: linked in the text. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.

Figures to confirm before you act

• Dairy Board fees: read from GN No. 540 of 2020; not a fee register line, so confirm on MIMIS before paying
• Certificate term: one year under s.20 or five years with retention under reg. 10; confirm in writing
• Import application fee: TZS 10,000 in reg. 8(1) against TZS 30,000 on the form; GN number of the 2011 Regulations not shown
• Per-kilogram import fee: Sh2,000 as reported in 2018 and 2026; not a register line
• Import duty on milk: CET 2022 Schedule 2 rate for headings 04.01, 04.02, 04.03 and 04.06
• Council cess: whether the local by-law charges cess on milk bought from farmers
• Business size: whether the plant is medium for both the licence (BLA102) and OSHA (F0442) bands
• TBS and fire charges: assessed on filing (F0365) and by levy class (NEW-05-07)
• Zanzibar: the processor route under ZFDA and the islands' livestock law
• Register lines cited: BLB137, F0848, BLA102, BLA103, F0110, F0509, F0442, NEW-04-40, NEW-08-02, NEW-08-14, NEW-08-16, F0776, F0365, F0283, F0309, F0311, F0246, NEW-03-11, NEW-05-07 and F0882 at 26 September 2026; the control number governs on payment

This article is general information based on official sources available at the date of publication. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and notices change. Verify with the issuing authority or consult Zatra before acting.