Exporting Seaweed from Tanzania & Zanzibar

Zanzibar is the heart of Tanzania's commercial seaweed sector -- predominantly Eucheuma denticulatum ("spinosum") grown by off-bottom/peg-and-line methods, mainly by women's farming groups. A parallel, separately-measured mainland Tanzania (Tanga) sector also exists and is reported in wet weight rather than dry weight, so the two should not be added together. Exports are regulated through the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries (Zanzibar) and the Zanzibar Bureau of Standards (ZBS); roughly 13 licensed companies currently export, selling almost entirely as raw/dried material to carrageenan processors in Denmark, China, South Korea, the USA, Spain and France.

Export is conducted by licensed seaweed-exporting companies (13 named companies active as of the most recent survey, incl. the government-owned Zanzibar Seaweed Company/ZASCO alongside private exporters such as C-Weed Corporation, ZANEA, Zanque Aqua Farm and others). A 2% government export tax applies on sales value.

Governed by ZBS draft standards PCD 435:2022 (Dried Raw Seaweed) and PCD 436:2022/WGD 6:2021 (Seaweed Powder). PCD 435 requires a minimum 45-day culture period, single-species lots, freedom from visible ice-ice disease/epiphytism, and grades by Clean Anhydrous Seaweed content: Grade A >=90%, Grade B >=80%, Grade C >=70%. Maximum moisture: cottonii 35%, spinosum 30%. Maximum sand 1%, impurities/debris 3%. Heavy-metal limits apply (arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium). Powder (PCD 436) must be made from PCD 435-compliant raw material, max moisture 13.5%. Both standards were still formally "draft" as of their 2023 WTO notification.

As a marine plant product, raw/dried seaweed exports are subject to standard Tanzanian plant/marine-product export certification; buyers in the carrageenan-processing industry (FMC, CP Kelco, Cargill, CEAMSA and others) also commonly specify their own moisture/salt/heavy-metal acceptance criteria on top of the ZBS standard at the point of purchase.

A standard Certificate of Origin applies per the general Tanzanian/Zanzibar export-document sequence; no seaweed-specific exemption or additional origin requirement was found in the sources reviewed for this guide.

Standard Zanzibar/Tanzania customs clearance via a licensed Clearing and Forwarding Agent, after the exporter has secured its MoBEF export licence and the shipment meets the applicable ZBS grade.

Commercial Invoice, Packing List, MoBEF export licence/permit, ZBS grade/quality documentation, Certificate of Origin, Bill of Lading.

Zanzibar's realized FOB export price has historically trailed every major comparator producer (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Chile, Taiwan) by a wide margin -- documented by REPOA as a direct consequence of exporting almost exclusively raw, unprocessed material rather than carrageenan or other value-added product. Local value-addition (soap, cosmetics, powder, food products) exists at small scale via cooperatives and the government's ZASCO initiative but remains under 2% of total output.