THE government formed a seven-person probe team to investigate the alleged subsidies, tax evasion and substandard quality of cement imported from Pakistan.

The probe team that starts work next Tuesday was created during the cement stakeholders' meeting to deliberate on the challenges that the sector faces in the country.

The Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, said that the team will help to understand the quality, manufacturing cost and selling price of cement from Pakistan to help in creation of fair competition in the local market.

"The aim is to ensure that the team observes every movement of the imported products, including the manufacturing and expire dates," he said, adding that there would be a necessity to look at average production costs in and outside the country.

The team comprised experts from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Trade, local cement manufacturers, Confederation of Tanzania Industries, Tanzania Bureau of Standards, Fair Competition Commission and Tanzania Revenue Authority.

Commercial Director of Rhino Cement, Bipin Bhatia, said the product which is sold at low price also lacked labels on how to use it. "There should be the date of production for the benefit of those using the product," he said.

Director of Policy and Advocacy with CTI, Hussein Kamote, said that last year over 200,000 tons of cement were imported from Pakistan and in this year already over 300,000 tons have been imported.

The country's annual demand for cement stands at four million tons against the local manufacturers' capacity to produce three million tons annually.