Editorial Policy

How Insights articles and Trade Guides on this network are researched, written and maintained.

Original writing

Articles are written in our own words based on primary and authoritative secondary sources, not copied or lightly reworded from source material. Where we draw on a specific figure, study or report, we cite it directly.

Accuracy

Our first commitment is not publishing a factual error, not just correcting one afterwards. Before publication, a factual claim needs a traceable source, a number needs a date and a unit, and a name needs to be correct. Where we are not confident in a fact, we either verify it before publishing or say plainly that we could not confirm it — we do not present an estimate or a guess as a confirmed fact.

Source verification

We do not build a factual claim on a single unverified source where a corroborating one is available. Primary sources — government statistics offices, commodity boards, trade authorities, and the business itself — take priority over secondary reporting, and secondary reporting takes priority over unsourced aggregation. Every source behind an article, price observation or supplier record is listed on that item and in our central Data Sources registry; see our Methodology for how market data specifically is verified.

Dates and attribution

Every article carries its original publication date, its most recent update date, and an editorial attribution. Regulatory or procedural content (in the Trade section) additionally carries a "Last reviewed" date, since requirements can change.

Editorial neutrality

This network covers commodities, trade and regulation that touch government bodies, commodity boards and state enterprises. We report on an official body's data or decisions the same way we report on any other subject: accurately, and without either promoting or attacking it. We do not take an editorial position on Tanzanian government policy, a commodity board's performance, or a company's business practices — we report what a credible source states, attribute it clearly, and let the reader draw their own conclusion. Where a claim is disputed or unverified, we say so rather than presenting one side as settled fact.

Government and regulatory content

Where an article describes a government agency, commodity board, regulation, levy or licensing requirement, we cite the specific official source and its date directly, rather than paraphrasing a regulation from a secondary source when we can cite the primary text or issuing body instead. Trade section content additionally carries a "Last reviewed" date, because requirements change. As set out in our About page, we are not a government body, commodity board or regulator, and nothing on this network is an official statement of Tanzanian law or policy — always confirm current regulatory requirements with the relevant authority before acting on them.

Business and supplier claims

Where editorial content describes a specific business's claims about itself — certifications, capacity, export markets, years in operation — we distinguish between what the business states and what we have independently corroborated, using the same Listed / Source-confirmed / Verified distinctions set out in our Methodology. We do not restate a supplier's self-description as an established fact in editorial copy.

Defamation and reputational risk

We do not publish an accusation of criminal conduct, fraud, or unethical business practice against an identifiable person or business without contemporaneous documentary support or an on-the-record source. Where we report a serious allegation that is itself disputed or unproven, we say so explicitly and attribute it to its source rather than presenting it in our own voice as established fact.

Conflicts of interest

Anyone who writes or edits content for this network must not hold an undisclosed financial interest — ownership, paid consultancy, commission, or similar — in a business named favourably in that content. Directory verification status and placement (see Methodology) are decided independently of who wrote or edited related editorial content.

No paid placement in editorial content

Editorial content is not for sale. A supplier or organisation cannot pay for favourable coverage, a higher verification status, or inclusion in an article.

Commercial placements (Supplier Pro)

Separately from editorial content, this network runs Supplier Pro, a paid feature giving a supplier greater visibility in specific commodity-relevant locations — for example, alongside Insights articles or Trade Guides. Every such placement is clearly labelled "Sponsored" wherever it appears, and is never presented as, or mixed into, the independent editorial content described in this policy. A Sponsored placement is a paid promotional feature, not an editorial judgement: it does not indicate government endorsement, Commodities.tz certification, independent verification, an editorial recommendation, or a guarantee of that supplier's quality or performance. Supplier verification status (Listed / Source-confirmed / Verified — see our Methodology) is decided independently of, and cannot be purchased through, Supplier Pro or any other paid placement. If any other form of paid placement is introduced in future, it will be labelled with the same clarity.

AI-assisted content

If artificial intelligence tools are used at any stage of researching, drafting or editing content on this network, they are used as an aid to a human editor, not as a replacement for one. Every fact, figure and citation is still subject to the same sourcing and verification standard set out in this policy regardless of what tools were used to produce a first draft, and a named human remains responsible for what is ultimately published. We do not publish content generated from a prompt without independent human research, sourcing and review of the result.

Depth over volume

We would rather publish a small number of substantive, well-sourced guides than a large volume of thin, interchangeable pages. New articles are added deliberately, not generated at scale.

User-submitted content

Visitors can suggest a supplier, propose an edit to a directory listing, or submit a claim to represent a business (see Methodology). None of this publishes automatically — every suggestion, edit and claim is reviewed by an administrator before it affects anything visible on the site, and a submission has no public presence until approved. We do not currently host open comments, reviews or any other visitor content that publishes without review.

Prohibited content

We do not knowingly publish, and remove on discovery, content that is unlawful, knowingly false, or submitted in bad faith — including a fabricated supplier claim, impersonation of a real business or official body, or an attempt to use our directory or editorial content to mislead a buyer or seller.

Copyright

Text, data presentation and original analysis on this network are our own work, or third-party material used under licence and attributed as such — see Data Sources for licensing and redistribution notes on data we did not originate. If you believe something we have published infringes your copyright, contact us via Contact with enough detail to identify the material, and we will review it.

Corrections

Factual errors are corrected as soon as we can verify them, with a visible update date. Report an issue via Corrections.

Complaints and takedown requests

If you believe something we have published is inaccurate, unfair, defamatory, or should not have been published, tell us via Corrections or Contact. We review every report; a verified factual error is corrected promptly, and where a more serious concern is upheld — a defamation, privacy or copyright issue — we remove or amend the content while we investigate rather than leave it live pending a lengthy review. This policy does not cover requests about your personal data, which are handled under our Privacy Policy.