Nairobi, May 12 -- The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has prohibited the Tanzania Revenue Authority from levying a tax of Tsh400 (Sh19.37) on Kenyan matches, ruling that it is discriminatory. The ban will remain in place until the case filed in Arusha has been heard and decided.

The EACJ First Instance Division made the decision on April 30, 2026, during the hearing of a case filed by the Kenyan manufacturer on August 29, 2025 under a certificate of urgency.

Match Masters, the company fighting the dispute against Tanzania, alleged that the Tanzanian Finance Act 2025 amended the Excise (Management and Tariff) Act to impose a Tsh400 per kilogramme levy only on "imported" safety matches, while exempting identical domestically manufac...