Global Import Regulations for

Syria

General Market Condition: Prohibited (except for Expatriate Doctors Returning with Equipment for Their Own Use)

Source: Report from CS Post (via Cable), 3 April 2003

According to Syrian laws and regulations, the import of used or refurbished medical equipment is not permitted. The government has recently allowed expatriate doctors returning permanently to Syria to bring back their used hospital and medical equipment for use in their own clinics exclusively.

Source: Report from CS Post (via Cable), 17 February 2000

Syrian regulations prohibit the importation of used or refurbished medical equipment. The import licenses for medical equipment issued by the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade require the importer to acknowledge that the medical equipment being purchased is ‘new equipment and not refurbished.’

Taiwan

General Market Condition: No Restrictions

Source: ISA Medical Electro-Diagnostic Apparatus, 1 December 1999 (Confirmed as still accurate 28 March 2002)

U.S. Market Position

The market for used or refurbished medical devices is virtually nonexistent in Taiwan. Local hospitals prefer to buy new equipment and their budgets currently permit them to do so. Apart from the normal medical device registration, used equipment will likely face difficult market challenges in Taiwan.

Source: Report from CS Post (via Cable), 27 July 1998 (Confirmed as still accurate 28 March 2002)

The importation of the following categories of used equipment is restricted in Taiwan: cars; equipment and parts used in the aerospace industry; equipment and parts used in ships and vessels; and generators and compressors with diesel engines. All other imports are treated the same as new

Tanzania

General Market Condition: No Restrictions, but Public Institutions Cannot Buy

Source: Report from CS Post (via E-Mail), 15 March 2002

Tanzania is pursuing a very flexible import administration regime on used and refurbished equipment in general. According to the East African Customs and Transfer Tax Management Act of 1952 Revised 1970 as applied by Act Number 19 of 1977 Section 14 and 15, there is no import restriction on used equipment in Tanzania.

However, on consignment basis, importation of used equipment into Tanzania is subject to inspection, verification and certification on its usability, suitability and appropriateness as governed by the Standards administered by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and any other Law. This is mostly applicable to items in the sensitive sectors that affect health and security.

Several industrial sectors have licensing and inspection boards. For instance, the National Medical and Pharmaceutical Board, under the Ministry of Health, handles medical equipment whereas Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is charged with the administration of standards issues including 572 published standards. TBS is a member of the International Organization for Standards (ISO) and has been notified to the WTO as the contact point for issues related to the Agreement on Technical Barriers. Most Tanzanian standards are voluntary in nature and TBS adopts international standards whenever they exist. Sanitary and phytosanitary standards are the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), which conducts an inspection and certification program for all imports of plant and animal products.

Motor vehicles of Japanese origin, continue to be the largest single group of used/reconditioned imported items into the country. The reforms that Tanzania has undertaken since 1985-and at a more accelerated pace in the past few years-have resulted in a trade policy framework that has been significantly liberalized and that is essentially based on tariffs. Liberalization of trade increased the volume of used equipment imported in other industrial sectors as well, especially office equipment (computers) and domestic appliances. Used items from various industrial sectors have been imported mostly through the free ports of the Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and South Africa. The United States of America continues to have negligible direct share of this trade in Tanzania despite the fact that some of the imported equipment is of U.S. origin.

Imports of used or refurbished equipment are receiving similar treatment as new ones. The whole scope of commercial goods being imported into Tanzania is subject to the same system of valuing goods for customs purposes which is fair, uniform, neutral and conforms to commercial realities.

Tanzania is implementing WTO Agreements including the Agreement on Customs Valuation (ACV). The procedure for valuation of goods for taxation purpose that is now in use is known as ‘Agreement on Customs Valuation (ACV) ‘. ACV prohibits the use of arbitrary or fictitious Customs values. Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) is applied to goods of a value of above US Dollars Five Thousand ($ 5,000). Since duties are mainly levied on an ad valorem basis (based on value), a common problem is evaluating the equipment’s current worth. Often, importers have been blamed, by the customs department, for under invoicing. In such cases, depreciation of the equipment had to be re-evaluated by the customs in collaboration with local dealers of the subjected item before an appropriate duty could be levied.

The recent reform of Tanzania’s customs duties (customs tariff structure) has resulted in a simplified four-tier structure with tariff rates of 0 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent and 25 percent in that order. Pharmaceuticals and medicaments, motor vehicles in CKD form and inputs for manufacturing pharmaceutical products, raw materials, capital goods and replacement parts fall under zero tariff.

There is no absolute ban on the import of any type of used equipment to Tanzania. There is a market for used or refurbished medical equipment in Tanzania. Used hospital/medical equipment has to attain the approval of the National Medical and Pharmaceutical Board. Used X-ray machines are not recommended. Used dental and medical laboratory equipment are in the greatest demand. Neither public health institutions ror the Government of Tanzania can buy used or refurbished medical devices. Nuclear substance processing equipment requires an approval from the Commission on Atomic Power within the Tanzania Commission of Science and Technology.

Importation of used / refurbished equipment is growing fast in Tanzania. Motor vehicles of all ranges, tractors, television sets, computers, VCRs, refrigerators, cookers, photocopiers, sewing machines, hair dressing equipment, retread and used tires, used construction equipment, generators and engine parts, are some of the most notable used imported items. Japan has been leading in the export of reconditioned cars, which account for more than 75 perent of the value of the imported equipment. Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy, the Middle East, Denmark, Australia and South Africa are the main source of used domestic, industrial, construction and office equipment. These four industrial sectors are prospects for U.S. suppliers in Tanzania.