Tanzania reinstates controversial sanitary pad tax · Global Voices
Young farmers in the village of Kangagani in Chakechake Pemba, pose for a photo on October 31, 2017. Tanzania's recently reinstated sanitary pad tax disproportionally impacts girls and women in rural areas. Photo by USAID in Africa via Flickr, in the public domain.
On June 13, Tanzania’s Minister of Finance and Planning, <PERSON>, announced the decision to reinstate a tax on sanitary pads in the 2019/2020 budget, triggering a major debate on the impact this tax will have on girls and women.
Last year, the same minister proposed scrapping the sanitary pad tax.
His recent announcement sparked public outrage, especially from women who see the tax as gender-based discrimination. The minister explained that the tax exemption implemented last year had not achieved the intended effect — to enable access to sanitary pads at affordable prices and therefore ensure “better menstrual health management.”
But the exemption did not reduce the retail price of sanitary pads — instead, it allowed traders to raise the rate of pads and increase their profits.
The minister stated that with this budget, the government will reduce corporate income tax by 5 percent — from 30 percent to 25 percent — for investors who manufacture sanitary pads locally. The purpose is to attract investors, create employment opportunities for locals and reduce dependency on imports of menstrual sanitary products.
The price of periods
The sanitary pad tax announcement comes months after the Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, <PERSON>, hinted that it was a possibility. On April 23, the deputy minister explained that her ministry had received complaints from consumers that sanitary pads were still highly priced . She insisted that the ministry was looking for better options that would benefit both women and the government, and mentioned the sanitary pad tax as a possibility.
Earlier this year, <PERSON>, Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, stated that her ministry had received letters urging the reduction of high prices on sanitary pads.
The average cost of having a period in Tanzania is 36,000 Tanzanian shillings or 15.63 United States dollars per year.
The current prices for disposable sanitary pads range from 2,000 TZS (.87 USD) to 4,000 TZS (1.74 USD) depending on the brand.
In response to these complaints, <PERSON> wrote letters to the Ministry of Finance and Planning and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, requesting them to direct manufacturers to reduce the prices on sanitary pads.
Early this month, <PERSON>, a member of parliament, requested the government to set indicative prices on sanitary pads (an average, fixed rate). 803
But the Minister of Industry and Trade, <PERSON>, explained that the government is only responsible for setting indicative prices for public goods and services — and sanitary pads do not fall under that category.
MP <PERSON> then requested a sit-down between the government and stakeholders to discuss how sanitary tax exemption can reflect the needs of consumers instead of rushing to reinstate the tax:
“Tulikutana na wauzaji/wasambazaji wa pedi, walitueleza kwamba wauzaji/wasambazaji wa jumla wamepunguza bei, tena kwa vielelezo, shida ipo kwa wauzaji wa rejareja. <PERSON> maslahi ya watumiaj wa mwisho.” @UpendoPeneza #KutokaBungeni pic.twitter.com/2H0e7PHMge
— Clouds Media (@CloudsMediaLive) June 21, 2019
We met with the distributors and traders of sanitary pads in this country and these traders, with illustrations, informed us that they had reduced prices. The problem was on the retail end, that is where the pricing has not been reduced.
In her speech, MP <PERSON>'s said:
The government has considered women’s opinions, it has considered Tanzanians’ opinions, it has considered the opinions from members of this parliament and that is why the tax was scrapped. Let us go back and sit down with the stakeholders dealing with sanitary pads, from distributors, consumers and other organisations so we can figure out how this reduction can benefit the citizens. However, rushing this is not right. In 2016, I said that exempting tax alone is not enough. However, the government must come up with a system of how to protect the interests of consumers. This was my move in 2016, this was my move in 2018 when I contributed on this same issue.
Various parliamentary leaders also spoke against the reinstatement of the sanitary pads tax. 424