Sisal Licence Tanzania: Who the Sisal Board Licenses, What Exports Cost, and Where Cess Applies

This guide explains the sisal licence Tanzania rules on the Mainland: the Act and its regulations, each licence class, grading and inspection, levies and council cess, land for estates, Zanzibar, and a costed export of 200 tonnes from a Tanga estate.

What the law says

Sisal has its own statute and its own regulator. A company certificate, a TIN and a business licence do not give anyone the right to grow, process, buy or export sisal. The Board's licence sits on top of them. The law has four layers.

• The Act. The Sisal Industry Act, 1997 (Act No. 2 of 1997) commenced on 1 October 1997. It repealed the Sisal Industry Act, 1973 and created the Tanzania Sisal Board. TanzLII lists it as Chapter 30, and the 2026 amending bill also cites it as Cap. 30. The consolidated text as at 31 July 2002 is the version we read section by section.
• The 2009 amendments. Part IV of the Crops Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2009 (Act No. 20 of 2009) rewrote the licensing model. It added a Board function to "provide for registration and licensing of persons engaged in growing, processing and marketing of sisal". It replaced section 8 with a licensing section, added contract farming in section 19A and renamed sisal inspectors as quality assurance officers. TanzLII records assent on 20 November 2009.
• The 1999 Regulations. The Tanzania Sisal Board Regulations, 1999 (GN No. 240 of 1999) commenced on 1 September 1999. They set the licence forms, the fibre grades, inspection powers and fixed penalties.
• The 2011 Regulations. Licences the Board issues today state that they are "made under Regulation 18 of Sisal Industry Regulations 2011". The Government Notice number of the 2011 Regulations was not found in any source we could read.

The Act defines a "producer" widely. It covers any person, company, society or smallholder who grows for sale, buys, sells, imports or deals in sisal fibre or its derivatives. It also covers anyone who manufactures for sale an article containing sisal fibre. "Sisal" includes the plant, the fibre, tow, twines, ropes and yarns.

Who should read this

• Estate owners in Tanga, Morogoro and other sisal districts, including buyers of existing estates;
• Decorticator and factory operators that turn leaves into fibre;
• Spinners and manufacturers of twine, rope, yarn, carpets and bags;
• Fibre buyers and traders who buy from estates or outgrowers;
• Exporters of fibre, tow and cordage;
• Smallholders and co-operatives growing under an outgrower scheme;
• Foreign investors pricing a sisal project, who should also read our guide to agricultural land access for foreign investors.

What changed in 2026

The Agricultural Laws (Amendments) Bill, 2026 had its first reading on 26 June 2026. The Parliament committee timetable for August 2026 shows stakeholder hearings on 12 and 13 August 2026. HabariLeo reported on 27 August 2026 that the bill amends four laws: the Food Security Act, Cap. 249, the Sisal Industry Act, Cap. 30, the Sugar Industry Act, Cap. 251 and the Tea Industry Act, Cap. 275.

The Daily News reported the same day that the National Assembly passed the bill unanimously. Neither report describes the sisal changes. We could not read the bill text, and we found no assent or commencement notice. Until the Act is published, the 2009 text governs. Check the sisal Part before you sign a long contract or an estate purchase.

Who needs a sisal licence in Tanzania?

Regulation 6(2) of GN No. 240 of 1999 lists the activities that need registration and licensing. Licences the Board issued in 2020 show the current classes under the 2011 Regulations: a grower's licence, a processor's licence and a manufacturer's licence. All three are published on the Tanzania Trade Portal.

One company often needs several licences. An estate that grows, decorticates and ships its own fibre holds a grower's, a processor's and an exporter's licence. A buyer's licence does not allow export without a valid export licence (reg. 10). Licences are not transferable (reg. 21), so a buyer of an estate applies in its own name.

The 1999 Regulations make a licence run from 1 January to 31 December unless it says otherwise (reg. 8). The 2020 licences on the Trade Portal run 12 months from the date of issue. Diarise each licence by its own expiry date.

How do growers and smallholders register with the Board?

The 2009 amendments define a "small holder farmer" as a person who owns at least six hectares and not more than four hundred hectares of sisal. That is the statutory wording. Smaller growers still register with the Board, and the 1999 Regulations keep a separate register for smallholders and co-operatives.

Section 19A, added in 2009, governs contract farming. A registered farmer may enter a contract farming agreement in the prescribed standard form. The contract goes to the Board "for scrutiny and registration", and the Board monitors it. Facilitating a registered farmer without a contract is an offence, with a minimum fine of five million shillings.

Most outgrowers sell leaves through the Sisal Smallholders and Out-growers (SISO) scheme. FAO publishes the Board's standard SISO contract between a processing company and a farmer. It runs for 10 years, renewable for 10 more. The company pays for leaves within 60 days of sale, with 3% interest on late payment. A joint committee assesses fibre prices by grade and world prices. The contract names five Board-owned estates: Magunga, Magoma, Hale, Mwelya and Ngombezi.

Smallholder numbers matter for policy. Farmers Review Africa reported in April 2023 that the Board targeted 120,000 tonnes a year by 2025, half from smallholders in 16 regions, against output of about 39,484 tonnes. It also reported 12,000 young farmers registered.

Foreign-owned buyers face one hard limit. GN No. 487A of 2025 reserves "on-farm crop purchasing" for citizens (register line NEW-08-14). A foreign-owned processor should buy leaves or fibre through a citizen-held channel or a registered contract, not through its own field buyers. Our guide to business restrictions for non-citizens sets out the 15 reserved activities.

How are sisal grades and inspections handled?

The Second Schedule of GN No. 240 of 1999 sets 11 fibre grades by length, decortication, brushing and colour. They are Grade 1, Grade A, Grade 2, 3L, 3S, UG (also called R), UF, Short Clean White Fibre, two tow grades and flume tow. UG needs fibre of 60 cm or longer and allows colour variation, "but not rotten". Twines and ropes follow ISO 5080.

Buyers often quote "SSUG". That label does not appear in the 1999 Schedule. Treat it as a commercial description, and write the Schedule grade and the length into the sales contract so the Board's grading and the buyer's claim use the same yardstick.

The Board may grade fibre before sale, after processing, before export or in storage (reg. 16). Under section 19 of the Act, as amended in 2009, a quality assurance officer may enter any place where sisal is grown or processed and take samples. Regulation 22 requires licence holders to give "free entry" during working hours, with or without notice. Regulation 27 requires transaction and export price records, a copy of the licence and returns as the Board directs.

Regulation 25 sets the export terms. Fibre ships FOB Tanga, Dar es Salaam or Mtwara, or CIF Tanga or Dar es Salaam. Other terms need Board approval. The Board's published prices are indicative only (reg. 26).

Is there an export levy or cess on sisal fibre?

Four separate charges are often confused. Take them one at a time.

• Export tax: none. TRA's Taxes and Duties at a Glance 2025/26 lists the commodities under the Export Tax Act, Cap. 196 and does not include sisal. The Finance Act 2026 additions do not include it either. The Zatra register records no export tax outside the Cap. 196 Schedule and the cashew levy, and exports are zero-rated for VAT (F0343). Our export levies guide lists all ten charged commodities.
• Sisal Board levy: power exists, rate not found. Section 5 of the 1997 Act lets the Board, with the Minister's approval and by order in the Gazette, "impose a levy on all sisal whether produced, sold or exported". The 2009 amendments renumbered section 5 and deleted the Board's levy income line in section 14. We found no levy order in force. Ask the Board for a written statement of any levy before you sign a price.
• Council produce cess. District and urban councils may charge cess at source under the Local Government Finances Act, Cap. 290. The Schedule caps crop cess at 3% of the farm-gate price, charged on buyers, never on sellers (F0547, NEW-05-27). Section 17(7) says corporate entities paying the service levy "shall not be liable to pay the produce cess". Our produce cess guide explains the rules and transit receipts.
• Council service levy. A company pays 0.25% of turnover net of VAT and excise to the council where it operates (F0283). See our service levy guide.

An estate that grows and decorticates its own leaves is not a buyer of produce, so cess on its own crop has no legal hook. A processor that buys leaves or fibre from outgrowers is a buyer. Get the council's position on section 17(7) in writing for each district where you buy.

What does a sisal licence cost?

The Zatra government fees register (26 September 2026) has no amount for any Sisal Board licence. Line F0775 records that sisal licence fees were not verified. Section 5 of the Act and regulation 8 of GN No. 240 of 1999 leave the amounts to the Board. The charges around the licence are in the register.

Farming and the sale of your own farm produce that is not materially processed sit outside the Business Licensing Act (NEW-08-16). Export is a separate trade and needs the Class A line. Whether decorticated fibre is "agriculture goods" or "raw material" decides between BLA121 and BLA120; ask BRELA to classify it on TNBP before you pay.

Can a foreign investor hold a sisal estate?

Yes, but not as an owner of land. A non-citizen cannot hold a right of occupancy for farming in its own name on the Mainland. The route is a derivative right granted through TISEZA, the authority created by the Investment and Special Economic Zones Act, 2025. Our guide to derivative rights and occupancy leases explains how the instrument works.

• Minimum capital. A TISEZA certificate needs TZS 1,500,000,000 for a foreign-owned business or joint venture, and TZS 150,000,000 for a Tanzanian-owned one (TZ-02).
• Certificate fee. TZS 6,000,000 for a foreign investor or joint venture, TZS 4,000,000 for a domestic investor (TZ-01).
• Transfer costs. Stamp duty on a conveyance of agricultural land is 0.5% of value from 1 July 2026 (F0477). A lease attracts 1% of the annual rent (F0478).
• Licences do not follow the land. Sisal licences are personal to the holder (reg. 21). A buyer of an estate company keeps them; a buyer of the estate assets applies afresh.

Many large estates were privatised after 1997, and some carry outgrower obligations under SISO contracts. Read every registered contract farming agreement before you price an estate. Our land acquisition desk screens title, village claims and boundaries before a deposit moves.

Mainland and Zanzibar

The Sisal Industry Act has no section extending it to Zanzibar. Section 20(2) says regulations may apply to the United Republic "as a whole or to any part thereof", but agriculture is not a Union matter under the Constitution. Treat the Act, the Board and its licences as Mainland only.

A Mainland sisal licence carries no weight in Zanzibar. Our guide to Mainland and Zanzibar land rights covers the island land route.

Worked example: a Tanga estate exporting 200 tonnes

The facts are assumptions for illustration. A Tanzanian company with foreign shareholders holds a 900-acre estate in Tanga Region under a derivative right. It grows and decorticates its own leaves. It sells 200 tonnes of UG grade fibre FOB Tanga in one consignment. The assumed contract price is USD 1,500 a tonne, so the invoice is USD 300,000. That price is a planning figure, not a market quote.

Per shipment, the known government charges are TZS 2,742,000 plus the service levy of USD 750 in shilling terms. Annual fixed charges add TZS 850,000, or TZS 1,050,000 if BRELA classifies the fibre as raw material (BLA120). The Board's own licence and permit fees sit on top. TZS and USD are totalled separately.

Change one fact. The estate also buys 60 tonnes of fibre from SISO outgrowers for an assumed TZS 90,000,000 at farm gate. The district may then charge up to 3%, or TZS 2,700,000, on the estate as buyer, unless it accepts the section 17(7) service levy exemption. Export proceeds must also come back to a Tanzanian bank within the period in our export levies guide.

Zatra's professional fee is quoted separately in writing. It is never folded into these government charges, which are paid to each authority against its control number.

Penalties, suspension and appeals

• General penalty. Section 21: a fine of up to TZS 5,000,000, imprisonment of up to seven years, or both. The sisal involved is forfeited to the Board on conviction.
• Contract farming. Section 19A(6): a minimum fine of TZS 5,000,000 for facilitating a registered farmer without a registered contract.
• Regulation offences. GN No. 240 of 1999 sets TZS 300,000 or six months for growing in breach of the rules, trading while suspended, or obstructing an inspector, and TZS 200,000 for a buyer who cannot produce a licence.
• Suspension and cancellation. A suspension may not exceed 60 days and the holder must be heard (reg. 19). The Board may cancel for non-payment of the annual fee or ceasing business (reg. 20).
• Appeal. Under section 8(3) as substituted in 2009, a person aggrieved by a cancellation or suspension may appeal in writing to the Minister within 60 days.

Prosecutions, forfeiture, appeals to the Minister and disputes with a buyer or outgrower go to Zatra's advocate. Zatra prepares the file and the timeline; the advocate represents.

What to do now

1. Map the activities. List each activity you run: growing, decorticating, manufacturing, buying, exporting, local sales. Each needs its own Board licence.
2. Write to the Board. Ask the Tanzania Sisal Board in Tanga for its current licence fees, any levy order in force and the export permit procedure, in writing.
3. Check the 2026 amendments. Read the sisal Part of the Agricultural Laws (Amendments) Act, 2026 once it is published, before signing contracts that run past 2026.
4. Register outgrower contracts. Put every smallholder agreement on the standard form and lodge it with the Board under section 19A.
5. Classify the export licence. Ask BRELA whether fibre is agriculture goods or raw material, then take the Class A licence on TNBP.
6. Settle council charges. Get each council's written position on produce cess and the service levy before the first purchase.
7. Grade in the contract. Write the GN No. 240 of 1999 grade and fibre length into each sale contract.
8. Secure the land route. For a foreign-owned estate, confirm the TISEZA derivative right before any deposit.

Key dates

How Zatra helps

Zatra's agriculture and trade desk maps each sisal activity to its Board licence, prepares the applications and lodges outgrower contracts. Our import and export compliance team builds the export file: Class A licence, Board permit, phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin. Our TISEZA registration service handles the investor route for a foreign-owned estate.

Government, Board, council and TPHPA charges are paid at the official rate against the authority's control number. Zatra's fee is separate and agreed in writing; see pricing. Zatra does not decide or guarantee any authority's outcome. Prosecutions, forfeiture, appeals and disputes go to Zatra's advocate.

Sources and status

Accurate as at 26 October 2026. Settled: the Act and its Board, the 2009 licensing and contract farming amendments, the 1999 licence classes, grades and penalties, nil export tax on sisal, and the council cess and service levy rules. Verify: the Board's licence fees and any levy order, the 2011 Regulations' GN number, the sisal changes in the 2026 Act and its commencement. Unknown: the revised edition section numbers and any Zanzibar sisal regulator.

• Sisal Industry Act, Chapter 30 and consolidated text: TanzLII, as at 31 July 2002. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Crops Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2009: FAOLEX copy of Act No. 20 of 2009, assented 20 Nov 2009. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Tanzania Sisal Board Regulations, 1999, GN No. 240 of 1999: TanzLII, commenced 1 Sep 1999. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Sisal grower's, processor's and manufacturer's licences: Tanzania Trade Portal, issued 2020, linked in the text. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Taxes and Duties at a Glance 2025/26: Tanzania Revenue Authority, July 2025. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• Parliament committee timetable, Aug 2026; HabariLeo, 27 Aug 2026; Daily News, Sauli Giliard, 27 Aug 2026: linked in the text. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.
• FAO SISO contract sample; CTI export of sisal procedure, updated 6 Jul 2023; Farmers Review Africa, 11 Apr 2023. Accessed 26 Oct 2026.

Figures to confirm before you act

• Sisal Board licence fees: not published and not a register line (F0775); ask the Board in writing
• Sisal Board levy: the Act allows one by Gazette order; no order in force was found
• Export permit: TZS 0 on the CTI page of 2023; confirm with the Board's marketing department
• 2026 amendments: the sisal Part, assent date and commencement of the Agricultural Laws (Amendments) Act, 2026
• 2011 Regulations: GN number, fee schedule and licence validity rule
• Licence class: BLA121 or BLA120 for fibre exports, as BRELA classifies it
• Phytosanitary need: whether the buyer's country requires a certificate for fibre (F0376)
• Certificate of origin: the TCCIA charge is assessed on issue (F0341)
• Produce cess: each council's by-law rate and its reading of Cap. 290 s.17(7) (F0547)
• Register lines cited: F0343, F0376, F0547, NEW-05-27, F0283, BLA120, BLA121, NEW-08-14, NEW-08-16, F0509, TZ-01, TZ-02, F0477, F0478 and F0775 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.